Alien Encounters: Ancient Visitors

“The copy of the Genesis Apocryphon discovered at Qumran dates back to the second century B.C. . . . When discovered in 1947, it had been much mutilated from the ravages of time and humidity. . . . When scholars finally made public its content, the document confirmed that celestial beings from the skies had landed on planet Earth. More than that, it told how these beings had mated with Earth-women and had begat giants.”

I.D.E. Thomas, The Omega Conspiracy

The appearance of unidentified flying objects in the skies of planet Earth is not a recent phenomenon. Indeed, flying chariots, celestial cars, winged disks, luminous cloudships, and glowing apparitions have profoundly impacted mankind since the beginning of recorded history.

According to Jacques Vallee, the world-renowned UFO researcher portrayed in the 1977 blockbuster movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind, the folklore of every culture throughout history is replete with sightings of extraordinary aerial phenomen akin to our modern UFO sightings. In 1969 Vallee wrote a fascinating book, Passport to Magonia, in which he catalogued the history of UFO sightings. Regarding such visitations, Vallee stated, “. . . The folklore of every culture, it turned out, had a rich reservoir of stories about humanoid beings that flew in the sky, used devices that seemed in advance of the technology of the time.”

UFO researchers John Weldon and Zola Levitt echoed this in their book, UFOs: What on Earth Is Happening?:

“UFOs seem to have been around for a long time. We can find odd references to ‘circles of fire in the sky’ in many historical documents and even in cave paintings. While we seem to be experiencing a great upsurge in reported sightings in our own day, every age seems to have had similar stories.”

Fear God and Keep His Commandments

The headlines overwhelm both mind and heart. Any abridged recounting of these issues is unnecessary for you Gracious Reader – you are already nodding your head and reflecting on the issue(s) freshest to you. The writer of Proverbs advises “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.” And yet our heart is heavy and even sickened by tragedies natural and travesties manmade. “My flesh and my heart fail; but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” This provides a good focus for the believer taking seriously the mandate to guard the heart – focusing on God’s words and ways strengthen our faith; focusing on His promises and prophecies establish our hope; focusing on Son and Spirit empower us to love with the fervent love Peter writes about. The question remains – “How do I guard my heart?” I refuse to bury my head in the sand like the ostrich. I refuse to withdraw like a turtle into a shell. And yet to claim I am unaffected by the sorts of things alluded to above is disingenuous and disturbing. “If you aren’t outraged, then you just aren’t paying attention.” If this resonates with you, I hope in the following paragraphs to share with you one practical habit I apply daily and I have applied for decades.

The writer of the Old Testament book Ecclesiastes claims, “That which has been is what will be, that which is done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun.” There is great comfort in this. We serve a God who is “the same yesterday, today, and forever” and who provides for and protects His people through the problems and circumstances familiar to Him throughout human history. There is NOTHING new to God. In colorful imagery and poetic phrasing, Ecclesiastes continues on this theme of monotony and emptiness. I recommend you read the whole of Ecclesiastes – my favorite audio Bible reads it in under 37 minutes. – and at the very least, read the first chapter to get a sense of the frustration the writer feels.

If you choose not to read it, one word can give a sense of the tone of the entire book. The Hebrew word hebel appears seventy-three (73) times in the Old Testament, with over half of the occurrences found in Ecclesiastes. Translated as vanity or emptiness, it appears five (5) times in the second verse alone! “Vanity of vanities!” – the emptiest of the empties! It is all pointless! We just keep working. The sun keeps setting, only to rise and set again the next day. The wind blows south only to turn around and blow north over the same ground it just covered. The waters of the rivers run into the ocean and yet never fill it. The eye is never satisfied with what it sees. The ear is never content with what it hears. And these complaints all appear in only the first nine verses of the 222 verses of Ecclesiastes!