Many people have been paying close attention to recent House Sub-committee hearings in the U.S. government, looking into what the government does and does not know about UAPs, or “Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena”. Some of the testimonies given by commercial and military airline pilots have fuelled a growing conviction among the willing that aliens have been visiting our planet regularly for decades or even for thousands of years. Many of the alleged sightings have been explainable, but a small percentage have not.
CHALLENGING
If you’re a Christian believer, how would the apparent confirmation of life from another world affect your faith? Feelings are mixed in this regard, with some being convinced that as the universe is so vast, God has surely created other life out there*. Others see the existence of alien beings as a threat to their faith and to the truth of Scripture, which say nothing about God creating other worlds. Such confirmation would indeed seem to satisfy some atheists who believe that life may have come from somewhere else in space, having evolved there first.
Still others share my view of the issue. I was once a lover of all things alien, having been raised in a sci-fi rich, drug-taking, open-minded culture; having read Erich Von Daniken’s “Chariots of the Gods”; having watched, multiple times, the first and then extended version of “Close Encounters of the Third Kind”, and then subsequently having been a fan of the first “Star Wars” trilogy. It seemed obvious to me that people were experiencing real alien encounters, and that the governments of the world were covering up.
CHANGELING
When I became a Christian I began to question what I’d believed before. Why? Thinking it all through, it became clear to me, now that I was aware of my failures of logic in BC days (before Christ) that the multitude of paranormal phenomena I and my friends had been impressed by and amused with in previous years had no common thread, apart from the fact that they were not of our everyday physical realm. They didn’t fit together in any coherent way. They didn’t make sense when considered together. This included UFO phenomena. Why were aliens always hiding? Why did they always come out at night to scare someone and then disappear again? Why did their spacecraft seem to evolve along with human technology and imagination? More soberingly, I found that my Bible warned me of earth-shaking deception in end times, immediately before the return of Jesus Christ.
SPACE AND SPACE TRAVEL
I recently viewed an interview with a UFO researcher who became a Christian in the course of his decades-long studies – Joseph Jordan (detail below). He isn’t the only one, but he discussed the same questions I’d made years ago. He also focused on the observation of some experiencers and researchers, that the only thing to halt a fearsome encounter with aliens-immediately-is to invoke the name of Jesus Christ. I’ve had one experience in which, I’m convinced, I dealt with a demon in this way.
Additionally, Jordan discussed the impossibility of traversing the stars, even within our own galaxy, due to the immense distances involved. Were an alien to cross half of our galaxy to get to us, and even if he could travel at the speed of light (which even secular physicists say is impossible) it would take him fifty thousand years to get here. Were he coming from another galaxy he may be travelling for millions of years, or hundreds of millions, or billions.
Why would a group of aliens travel for fifty thousand years or more to get to our little tiny speck of a planet, just to hide behind the clouds for decades? It doesn’t make sense.
NOT ALWAYS A PLEASANT EXPERIENCE
Jordan remarks how common it is for those who experience true sightings. particularly abduction, to describe them as harrowing and deeply disturbing events, while others claim to experience a sense of bliss and happiness. For some people abduction events are ongoing and repeated over many years, and cause perpetual fear and trauma. Is this always a mark of mental illness, or is something else going on? Such reports come across more like demonic manifestations, and not at all like the message of a joyful band of saviors, coming to deliver us all and take us to the next level of evolution. The old “Twighlight Zone” episode “To Serve Man” comes to mind: even if alien creatures really are among us, what makes us think they’re benevolent?
ANOTHER DIMENSION
The fact that these phenomena are so erratic, and the reality of space travel being beyond the laws of nature (trips to Mars excluded) it seems to many observers that aliens are not coming from the other side of our galaxy but from another dimension. Here, for the Bible-believing Christian, is another clue as to the nature of those we call “aliens”. From beginning to end, the Bible frequently describes beings which are undetectable to most of us for most of the time. They’re called “angels”, though other terms are used also. These beings obviously inhabit dimensions other than the four we’re able to detect-that’s why we can’t see them… unless they step into our dimensions.
BEYOND THE PHYSICAL
Jesus Christ, having risen from the dead, appeared in a locked room, spoke to his disciples, had them touch him to know that he was really there, and on another occasion, ate with them. Biblically, it’s possible for those in “heaven” to pass into our space-time continuum, and to interact with our physical reality. It’s also possible for them to adjust their appearance in order to blend in… or not. And since a large portion of the angelic host has chosen to rebel against their creator, it’s clear that not all of them are looking out for His best interests, or ours.
THE WARNING OF SCRIPTURE
This leads me back to one of my first points. Scripture warns of intense deception in the times immediately before the return of Christ. Jesus’ “Olivet Discourse” speaks heavily to this fact. It will be so intense, says Jesus, that:
“… false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect” (Matthew 24:24).
Were you to see someone performing great miracles or feats seemingly impossible except for aliens or gods, would you be inclined to believe his or her message? Would you be inclined to drop your interest in the God of the Bible? How strong is your faith? Who, or what, is your faith in? Are you prepared to stand against deception so powerful that even the strongest in the faith will come close to being swayed? It’s said (Jordan remarks on it and I’ve read it in the writings of New Age spokespeople) that one of the central messages in alien abduction is that the Christian Church and the Biblical God is an enemy, holding back the evolution of man. Given these facts, it seems that the main target of the future and present deception Jesus warned of is faith in the God of the Bible, and His only son, Jesus Christ.
THE WAR AGAINST GOD
I’ll take this even further. It was something of a revelation (pun intended) for me to find that the battle of Armageddon will not be just any old world-war: it’s an attempt, albeit futile, to prevent the return of Jesus Christ.
I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and wages war (Revelation 19:11).
Then I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to wage war against the rider on the horse and his army. But the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who had performed the signs on its behalf. With these signs he had deluded those who had received the mark of the beast and worshiped its image. The two of them were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur.(verses 16 to 19).
I’m not claiming that the “beast” of Revelation will pose as an alien (although that’s possible). Neither do I believe that aliens will necessarily be the main feature of last-days deception. It may just continue to be one of the many deceptions. Instead I’m pointing out that intense deception is the strategy of the enemy of our God.
WHY DECEPTION?
What is the aim of this deception? What’s it for? The intention is to draw as many people away from faith and hope as is possible. This deception is, however, allowed by our God, and even sent. Yes, I did say “sent” by God. We find that truth in several texts, but particularly in Paul’s writing which I’ve referenced below. It’s allowed as a means to divide the true lovers of the Lord and his only Son from those who prefer darkness. It’s a tool of the harvest of God. Paul captured this fact perfectly:
The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness (2 Thessalonians 2:9-12).
A time of deception is coming, so intense and convincing that it will shake the faith of all those who really don’t love the truth. The alien is just one facet of this deception, or it could be a central feature of it. It will be, however, to those of us who love the Lord and the word of God, manifestly false. It will be, says Paul a lie of epic proportions. Be prepared for whatever form it may come in.
NOTES
*See my post, “If there’s a God, Why is the Universe So Big?” Paste this title into the small search box at the top of this page.
Find the video I mentioned, and a link to the full interview, on YouTube:
UFO Researcher EXPOSES “The Missing Piece” of the Alien Phenomenon (channel-“The Daily Dose of Wisdom”).
Fuel for Faith, Food for Thought 