Opinion/Current Events/Biblical History
By Summer Lane
Photo: Deposit
PART ONE: THE DAYS OF NOAH
I find it interesting how mainstream UFO and UAP coverage has become over the past few years, and there’s simply no shortage of alien documentaries and movies in the entertainment industry.
In May, the Pentagon showed supposedly declassified photos and videos of floating objects that whirr and spin through the night sky. Per Fox News, the visuals on these UFOs are shaky, grainy, and entirely unexplainable. The objects are often triangular, and they tend to move in ways that are physically impossible for any of our “known” aircraft.
Via Fox News, Deputy Director of Naval Intelligence Scott Bray stated during the UFO hearings that the military is identifying these objects as unmanned aerial vehicles:
“Bray also said Tuesday that there have been at least 11 ‘near misses’ between U.S. military aircraft and UAP. He also said the U.S. military hasn’t tried to communicate with UAP, including the unexplained object in the video shown earlier in the hearing which ‘may or may not be in controlled flight.’”
All this talk about aliens, as well as the Pentagon’s sudden willingness to admit that there are a lot of UFOs in the world (but they have “no idea” what they are), pose a lot of questions, particularly for the Christian:
ARE ALIENS REAL? AND IF SO, WHAT THE HECK?
First, take a deep breath. I don’t believe aliens are real. I can prove it pretty firmly, too.
However, to arrive at this conclusion, we must walk the path of Biblical history and retrace the steps that our forefathers took. Let’s begin!
Start at the Beginning
To understand where all this talk of “aliens” comes from, we have to start at the beginning of our known world. Thankfully, we have an excellent historical record of Creation in Genesis, and we as Christians know that God created the world in six days, and on the seventh day, He rested (Genesis 1 & 2).
You know the rest. Adam and Eve sinned, and they were henceforth booted from the Garden of Eden, doomed to live mortal lives that would be filled with pain and end in death. And hey – here is a tidbit you don’t hear in Sunday School all too often:
“After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life” (Genesis 3:24).
That’s right – God placed cherubim in the garden to guard the tree of life – not the tree of knowledge of good and evil. The tree of knowledge is the tree from which Adam and Eve ate, but the tree of life was an entirely different thing.
“And the Lord God said, ‘The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.’” (Genesis 3:22)
The assertion here is that had Adam and Eve eaten from the tree of life in addition to the tree of knowledge, they would have been immortal – and, subsequently, eternally condemned in their sins.
Thankfully, God in His gracious mercy saved mankind from such a fate, but you can see where the legend of the fountain of youth and whispers of springs of immortality stem from, right? The Bible is a testament to the fact that, at some point, a vessel providing immortality did, in fact, exist.
What happened to the tree of life? Nobody knows. And hey – it’s better that way.
These details are pertinent to this discussion about aliens because it is in the interim between the Fall and the Flood that I believe mankind rapidly developed on both an intellectual level and a metaphysical one:
“When human beings began to increase in number on the earth and daughters were born to them, 2 the sons of God saw that the daughters of humans were beautiful, and they married any of them they chose. 3 Then the Lord said, ‘My Spirit will not contend with humans forever, for they are mortal; their days will be a hundred and twenty years.’
The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—and also afterward—when the sons of God went to the daughters of humans and had children by them. They were the heroes of old, men of renown.
The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time. The Lord regretted that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was deeply troubled. So the Lord said, “I will wipe from the face of the earth the human race I have created—and with them the animals, the birds and the creatures that move along the ground—for I regret that I have made them.” But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.”
(Genesis 6:1-8)
It blows my mind, as an adult, to take in this passage. The Bible tells us that “Sons of God” had children with human women. Their offspring were known as the Nephilim – a hybrid of a human and fallen angel. This is a difficult concept to wrap my head around because fallen angels, by their very nature, are not redeemable.
(Note: I understand that there are some Creationists who do not take this passage to mean “angels,” but rather, some believe that these were the descendants of Cain who were traversing the glove and having babies with women. There is much debate about it. My opinion is that the fallen angels did come to Earth and procreate with human women – and it is from this perspective that my three-part series is based on – but I am wholly open to counterarguments! My viewpoint on this passage is anchored on a more literal interpretation, bolstered by historical context.)
Case in point, let’s look back at Genesis 3. Death is the wage that we pay for sin (Romans 6:23), but God graciously gives eternal life to those who repent from their sins and confess that Jesus is the Christ.
Angels cannot die, and there is no indication in the Bible that Jesus died for the angels’ salvation. Rather, Scripture says that Jesus died for us – that is, mankind, who was made Imago Dei, which means that we were created in the image of God (1 Peter 3:18, Romans 5:8, John 5:24, John 3:36, John 3:16, etc.).
Angels are immortal spirits, but they were not created in the image of God. It begs the question: what happens when an immortal, fallen angel has a baby with a human woman? My guess is that you might end up with a race of hybrid, irredeemable, powerful, intellectual, but extremely dangerous Nephilim.
According to Scripture, the wickedness of man was so extreme that the Lord was grieved that He had ever created us. I will add my opinion here on Genesis 6 – I don’t think people understand, truly, how wicked the culture of this ancient period was. A couple of things:
First, I think this ancient, angel-infiltrated realm of Earth was not only much more beautiful than our post-Flood world, but I believe that it was much more advanced. We can assume that the culture of the ancient world was deeply in touch with the supernatural realm, since fallen angels were traipsing around, making demon babies and all (how lovely!).
We tend to believe that our “modern era” is impressive, and I don’t think this is the case. While it’s impossible to know what the world population was at the time of Noah, it’s likely that there could have been several billion people – depending on how fast civilizations were reproducing. And think of this: until God capped lifespans at 120 years, people were living for centuries (Noah was 600 years old when God flooded the Earth – a spring chicken!).
Because the Flood destroyed literally everything it’s hard to know exactly what the ancient world looked like, but that was intentional. God didn’t want us remembering the wicked ways of the Days of Noah, because they were horrific. I’m not sure we could handle it! Suffice it to say, it was a lot worse than simple pagans building stone altars to roughshod wooden idols.
No, the wickedness was so vast, so intense, so deep, and so fully encompassing, that God inflicted a global apocalypse upon His own beloved Earth and destroyed every living thing. This was a culture sullied by warped DNA and demonic offspring. This is an evil that we cannot even begin to comprehend, and frankly – it’s the stuff of nightmares.
This knowledge makes God’s promise not to flood the Earth again even more impactful:
“ I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. 14 Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, 15 I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. 16 Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth.” (Genesis 9:13-16)
The question, of course, is if all the people died, and all the Nephilim died, and all the living creatures perished…what happened to the fallen angels?
Next Friday, I will continue this series in PART TWO: The Pentagon, the Sons of God, and the Days of Noah.
The opinions in this article are specific to its author, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the entire Counter Culture Mom team. This specific article was written by Summer Lane, and may not be reproduced, except to quote for reviews or interviews, without the express permission of the author.
*
Summer Lane is the #1 bestselling author of 30 books, including the hit Collapse Series and Resurrection Series. She is an experienced journalist and columnist who reports on news within the U.S. and abroad. She is the Associate Editor for Right Side Broadcasting Network. Additionally, she analyzes politics and policies on The Write Revolution.
Summer is also a mom and wife who enjoys rural country living, herding cats, and gardening. She is passionate about writing about women’s issues, parenting, and politics from a theologically-grounded perspective that points readers to the good news of the gospel.
Download Our New Counter Culture Mom App to get our trending news and pop culture alert notifications. Connect with other parents in the Parent Chat section to gain helpful ideas on how to counteract the Pop Culture Cult!
Be sure to contact us if there is an issue you would like to have us write about! Our mission is to help parents deal with today’s lifestyle trends and how to biblically navigate them.