The Rise and Fall of the Nephilim (22 page)

But in and throughout the beautiful, poetic language of the Psalms is an undercurrent of visionary language that could possibly imply encounters with what some have suggested are alien encounters.

Is it possible that David, the “sweet singer of Israel,” as he was once known, had a close encounter that he described—or hid—in a song of praise to God? Psalm 18 holds an intriguing story that tells of David being surrounded by enemies and being forced into deep water, from which he was suddenly taken up out of and put in a large place. He describes the scene in very vivid terms: the heavens opening up, and God descending, mounted on a cherub—not your typical mental image of a cherub; a heavenly beast that rode on the clouds, black smoke and fire shot out the nostrils of God—and the ensuing shafts of flame consuming everything in its path. David then writes that God, astride his cherub, was followed by, or left a “jet stream,” of dark clouds that produced hail, and a “great noise” coming from God.

Is this all an incarnate manifestation of God, a miraculous act of deliverance? Or could it be something else, something much more like the vision of Ezekiel, who saw what has been described in modern terms as some sort of craft?

David finishes the account of the heavenly attack, telling of bolts of lightning being shot at his enemies, scattering them. This was all followed by a great earthquake, leaving the modern-day reader wondering if this entire account is a description of alien craft and weaponry being used to deliver King David of Israel—the same man who slew one of the few remaining Nephilim, Goliath of Gath—and took his head. Could this be a rescue mission sent to the man who killed one of the descendants of the great giants? Or is this merely the song written by a man who was, like Moses, establishing his “tightness” with God before the people he ruled?

“4 The sorrows of death overtook me, and the rush of ungodly people made me afraid. 5 The sorrows of hell overtook me: the traps of death captured me. 6 In my distress I called on Yahweh, and cried out to my God, who heard my voice out of the sanctuary, and listened to my cry. 7 Then the earth quaked; the foundations of the hills were disturbed and shaken, because God was angry. 8 There went up a smoke out of the face of God, and fire out of the mouth of God, in which the flames consumed everything ignited by them. 9 God opened the heavens, coming down with dark smoke underneath, 10 riding on a cherub, a heavenly being, and flying on the wind, 11 making darkness the hiding place of God, with a shelter of dark waters and the thick clouds of the skies all around. 12 But the brightness that surrounded God was followed by the thick clouds that passed, with hail stones and flashes of lightening. 13 The noise of Yahweh rumbled in the heavens, and then the voice of the Most High God spoke through the hail stones and flashes of light. 14 Yes, God sent out bolts of electricity, scattering the enemies, shooting out like flashes of lightning, and destroyed them. 15 Then the outlets of water were seen,
and the heart of the earth was uncovered at Your word, oh Yahweh, from the exhaust of Your face. 16-18 God sent from above, taking hold of me, and drawing me up out of much water, delivering me from my strong enemies, and from those who hated me, which were too strong for me, and who had shamed me in the day of my misfortune, but You, oh Yahweh, were my stay. 19 You brought me forward also into a large place and delivered me, because you delighted in me.”

(Psalm 18:4-19)

Of course, it could simply be a great songwriter/story-teller embellishing his tale with vivid, colorful imagery. It is interesting to me how so many Bible believers will entertain and believe the most garish, creative stories told in the pages of scripture, but will shun the notion of the existence of aliens and UFOs, because they are just too far-fetched.

Another Psalm of David tells of God’s presence shaking the earth and the heavens descending like an object of silver and gold, with chariots of heaven numbering 20,000 containing thousands of heavenly beings. He described it as an inanimate object found in the feeding pens of a sheepfold that comes to life and flies through the air like a dove, shimmering with silver and gold, and glowing white like the snow. He described armies running in fear from its presence. Could this be a mother spacecraft with many smaller spacecrafts containing their occupants? Would these aliens come to the rescue of God’s chosen one?

“7 Oh God, when You went forward before Your people, Israel, when You marched with them through the wilderness; Selah: 8 The earth shook and the clouds descended at Your presence: even Sinai itself quaked at the presence of God, the God of Your people, Israel…. 12 Leaders of armed forces ran away, and our dependents at home received the benefits. 13 Though You’ve been as lifeless as a metal pot, yet you will fly as the silver wings of a dove, with feathers of yellow gold.

14 When the Almighty scattered rulers in it, it was white as the snow on Mt. Zalmon…. 17 The vehicles of God are twenty thousand, in which are thousands of angels: my Sovereign God is among them, as in Mt. Sinai, in the holy place…. 32 Sing to God, You nations of the earth; oh sing praises to Yahweh; Selah: 33 To the Great One who rides on the heaven of heavens, which are eternal; see, the mighty voice of God sounds out. 34 We attribute strength to You, God: Your greatness is above Your people, Israel, and Your strength is in the skies. 35 Oh God, You are awesome coming out of Your holy places: It is You, God, who gives strength and power to Your people, Israel. God be blessed!”

(Psalm 68:7-8, 12-14, 17, 32-35)

If you are a follower of more contemporary UFO sightings and activity, you’ll have noticed that many of them take place in remote areas, such as deserts and mountainous regions, and over large bodies of water, despite the more recent advent of mass sightings over populated areas. Now consider some of the biblical events that have piqued the curiosities of ancient biblical UFO theorists: Moses was witness to a physical manifestation of God while hidden in the cleft of a secluded mountain outcrop; the prophet Elijah and Moses appeared to Jesus, and two of his disciples on the very slopes of the same mountain where the Watchers are to have descended to the earth in the Book of Enoch, Mount Hermon; God protected the children of Israel with a pillar of cloud by day and one of fire by night as they wandered as a nomadic tribe of freed slaves after the first Passover and the Exodus. Are these accounts of God’s miraculous majesty and power or could they possibly be descriptions of events that might be linked to UFO and alien activity? The 29th Psalm describes some unusual activity in remote, out-of-the-way places that Ancient Alien theorists have linked to possible UFO sightings of a biblical proportion:

“3 The voice of Yahweh is heard across the oceans: the God of glory rumbles, echoing over the seas. 4 The voice of Yahweh is strong and majestic. 5 The voice of Yahweh snaps the cedars in two; yes, Yahweh snaps the cedars of Lebanon completely in two. 6 Yahweh makes the volcanoes erupt. 7 The voice of Yahweh spews fiery flames. 8 The voice of Yahweh shakes the desert; the wilderness rumbles. 9 The voice of Yahweh makes the doe to bear, and unclothes the forests, and every one tells of the glory of God in the sanctuary. 10 Yahweh rules over the Tsunami; yes, oh Yahweh sits a Sovereign One forever.”

(Psalm 29:3-10)

The voice of God is described as enormously powerful in this Psalm. The flames and the rumbling noise, along with weapons that snap massive cedar trees in two, cause volcanoes to erupt, make the deserts cascade with voluminous rumblings and the forests to burn to ash. Can these all be interpreted as the manifestation of advanced alien spacecraft? Could a space ship hide in the depths of the ocean, as many ufologists already believe? Psalm 104 describes a very bright object resting beneath the water, then emerging and moving with great speed into the clouds.

Interestingly, a UFO was spotted by none other than Christopher Columbus during his maiden voyage to America in 1492. Columbus recorded in his log that, as he was sailing through the waters of what is now the Bermuda Triangle, his compass began acting in an odd fashion. He and Pedro Gutierrez while on the deck of the
Santa Maria
, observed, “a light glimmering at a great distance,” as they observed it for several hours “in sudden and passing gleams.”
¹¹
Four hours later, they saw land. Columbus attributed the sighting to divine guidance to the New World.

“2 Covering Yourself with light as with clothes: You who stretches out the heavens like a curtain: 3 Who lays the shafts
of Your chambers in the waters and makes the clouds Your vehicle, moving on the wings of the wind: 4 Who makes the angels spirits; Your ministers a flaming fire.”

(Psalm 102:2-4)

Unusual activity from the depths of the sea is also mentioned in Psalms 74 and 77. According to the Book of Exodus, God let a strong east wind blow all night, parting the waters of the Red Sea—or, as many biblical scholars believe, the marshy region of the Yam Suph to the far northern delta region of the Red Sea. What, other than an almighty God, could send a powerful force strong enough to part the waters and let the Israelites cross on dry ground, releasing it just in time to drown the whole of the whole of Pharaoh Amenhotep II’s mighty army? Psalm 77:19 tells us that God travels in the sea and the oceans, and that his path cannot be discovered. Is this a reference to underwater craft that traverse in obscurity through the briny depths?

“13 You divided the sea by Your strength: You broke the heads of the dragons in the oceans. 14 You broke the heads of leviathan, the great sea beasts, in pieces, and gave them for meat to the people living in the wilderness. 15 You opened up the wellspring and the flood: You dried up mighty rivers. 16 The waters felt You, oh God, the waters felt You disturb them and the depths were troubled as well. 17 The clouds poured rain, the skies thundered, and Your lightening flashed also. 18 The voice of Your thunder was in the heavens: the lightning lit up the world and the earth trembled and shook. 19 Your way is in the sea, and Your path in the great oceans, and Your footsteps aren’t known.”

(Psalm 77:13-19)

One of the many gilded chariot wheels discovered at the bottom of the Red Sea, in the Gulf of Aqaba, off Neweiba Beach. Coral does not grow on gold, but the wood inside had completely deteriorated. Inset: Chariot wheel on Egyptian tomb painting
.
Photo courtesy of Dr. Lennart Moller, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden.

Is Psalm 97 a description of God or of an alien craft? Melting hills, enfolding darkness broken by fire, lightning, and illumination.

“2 Clouds and darkness are around you: righteousness and judgment are the symbols of Your reign. 3 A fire goes before you, and burns up Your enemies everywhere. 4 Your lightning
enlightened the world: the people of earth saw, and trembled.
5 The hills melted like wax at the presence of the Sovereign One, at the presence of the Most Sovereign of the whole earth. 6 The heavens declare Your righteousness, and everybody sees Your glory.”

(Psalm 97:2-6)

Do God and His angels ride in spacecrafts? In one Psalm they are described as a cherub on the back of whom God rides down out of the clouds. Here, in Psalm 144, we have a description of God and His angels flying down out of the heavens in what is said by biblical alienists to be a spacecraft. What if that alien spacecraft contained what we know as God and the angels screaming down out of the heavens and laying waste to the mountains? Is this the description of a terrible ufological weapon, or the power of a divine God? The psalmist may have wondered the very same thing, as he questions why God would take special note of his people and destroy their enemies. In this verse he prays for God to open the heavens and come back down to destroy his enemies.

“3 Yahweh, what are human beings, that You take note of them! Or the children of humanity, that You take account of them! 4 People are as nothing: their days are as a shadow that passes away. 5 Open Your heavens, oh Yahweh, and come down: You touch the mountains and they smoke. 6 Make lightning, and scatter them: shoot out Your lightening bolts, and destroy them.”