Introduction
Strange disappearances, returning from the dead, healing powers, non- human intelligences; these and many other phenomenon are the stuff of investigations by Mulder and Scully in the cult TV series The X-Files. This programme has probably done more than any other, to generate interest in what is described as the para-normal. Yet this fascination has always been there and records of such occurrences exist in ancient writings, going back 3,500 years, or more.
Another similarity with the X-Files, is that these ancient writings also have an underlying theme running through them. You know how Fox Mulder and Dana Scully exercise their conspiracy theories on a weekly basis, trying to make sense of events and trying to discern who is pulling the strings behind the scenes - in their case, mysterious departments of the American Government. Surprisingly, the ancient writings previously referred to also reach the same conclusion, namely the World Governments will conspire together to oppose the forces of good. The writings also contain remarkable prophecies pointing to when these events will come to a terrifying conclusion.
Before looking at a few of these prophecies, lets consider some of the accounts of startling phenomena.
Mysterious Disappearances.
The first recorded incident dates from approximately 3,300 BC and concerns Enoch, a man who 'Walked with God; and he was not, for God took him.' (Genesis 5:24). A First Century writer also referred to this incident'By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him; for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.' (Hebrews 11:5).
It would appear the reason for this disappearance (or translation) may have been in order to spare Enoch from a forthcoming global disaster, which happened shortly after his 'translation' (Genesis 6:17). In the same way, First Century writings foretell that those who 'Walk with God' now, will also be saved from a forthcoming global disaster, (or which, more later).
A second example of a mysterious disappearance occurred to a man called Elijah in about 1000 BC.
"And it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.''
The ancient writings are full of examples of people who have miraculously returned from the dead. The same Elijah we discussed in the previous section brought about one such example (1 Kings 17:22)
"And the LORD heard the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child came into him again, and he revived." )
Another unusual example was brought about by the corpse touching the bones of the prophet Elisha. (2 Kings 13:21
"And it came to pass, as they were burying a man, that, behold, they spied a band of men; and they cast the man into the sepulchre of Elisha: and when the man was let down, and touched the bones of Elisha, he revived, and stood up on his feet.")
The second portion of the ancient writings, written between about A.D. 50 and A.D. 100 contain many examples of people being raised from the dead. A man called Paul was able to do this, as well as a man called Peter.
Acts 9:40 "But Peter put them all forth, and kneeled down, and prayed; and turning him to the body said, Tabitha, arise. And she opened her eyes: and when she saw Peter, she sat up."
The most famous examples concern a religious teacher called Jesus and also known as the Christ or the Messiah which both mean 'the Anointed One'.
Matthew 11:4 & 5 "Jesus answered and said unto them, Go and shew John again those things which ye do hear and see: The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them."
One example was of his friend, Lazarus
(John 11:44 "And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with graveclothes: and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, and let him go.")
Even in death (similar to the case of Elisha), people were brought back to life, because of Jesus.
(Matthew 27:52 - 54 "And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many. Now when the centurion, and they that were with him, watching Jesus, saw the earthquake, and those things that were done, they feared greatly, saying, Truly this was the Son of God.")
There were also other examples recorded which bear further research. The purpose of the resurrections was to point forward to the promised return of Jesus to the earth when (1 Corinthians 15:52)
"In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed."
The gift of everlasting life is on offer to all who believe the message of the Bible and is made possible by the sacrifice and resurrection of Jesus himself.
Romans 6:4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
Romans 10:9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
If you wish to know more about this subject, please contact us for further no- cost, no-obligation information.
Healing Powers
The ancient writings contain many examples of the power of healing, We shall look at several examples.2 Kings 5:9-14 So Naaman came with his horses and with his chariot, and stood at the door of the house of Elisha. And Elisha sent a messenger unto him, saying, Go and wash in Jordan seven times, and thy flesh shall come again to thee, and thou shalt be clean. But Naaman was wroth, and went away, and said, Behold, I thought, He will surely come out to me, and stand, and call on the name of the LORD his God, and strike his hand over the place, and recover the leper. Are not Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? may I not wash in them, and be clean? So he turned and went away in a rage. And his servants came near, and spake unto him, and said, My father, if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldest thou not have done it? how much rather then, when he saith to thee, Wash, and be clean? Then went he down, and dipped himself seven times in Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God: and his flesh came again like unto the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.
It was not Elisha himself who had the power to heal, but he was the channel through which the power was focused. The point of the story was that Naaman had to learn humility in order to be healed. Here are some other examples.
2 Kings 20:5 Turn again, and tell Hezekiah the captain of my people, Thus saith the LORD, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will heal thee: on the third day thou shalt go up unto the house of the LORD.
2 Kings 20:6 And I will add unto thy days fifteen years; and I will deliver thee and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria; and I will defend this city for mine own sake, and for my servant David's sake.
Matthew 8:13 And Jesus said unto the centurion, Go thy way; and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee. And his servant was healed in the selfsame hour.
Matthew 8:14-17 And when Jesus was come into Peter's house, he saw his wife's mother laid, and sick of a fever. And he touched her hand, and the fever left her: and she arose, and ministered unto them. When the even was come, they brought unto him many that were possessed with devils: and he cast out the spirits with his word, and healed all that were sick: That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses.
Matthew 12:13 Then saith he to the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it forth; and it was restored whole, like as the other.
Luke 4:18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,
Luke 10:8 & 9 And into whatsoever city ye enter, and they receive you, eat such things as are set before you: And heal the sick that are therein, and say unto them, The kingdom of God is come nigh unto you.
The reason that these healings took place was almost always the same. It was to show that the one through whom the healing power came was chosen by God.
Acts 28:27 For the heart of this people is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes have they closed; lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.
Non-Human Intelligence
The ancient writings are full of references to non-human intelligences. Indeed, the writings themselves are said to have been written by humans under the direction of one Supreme Intelligence. This Intelligence is known by many titles, but the writings also reveal to us His actual name, Yahweh. The supreme Intelligence is assisted by legions of his messengers, which humans have called Angels.One fact that differentiates these beings from the many that are encountered on a regular basis by Mulder and Scully, is that these beings are uniformly good in nature and purpose. However it must be said that in order to achieve their ultimate objective, they are often hindered by human intervention, especially from governments.
Despite the fact that the ancient writings appear to mention forces of evil, such as devils and demons, these are symbols that represent the evil in the world, rather than real beings themselves. It says in the writings that evil originates within Man rather than being an external force....
James 1:13-15 Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.
Mark 7:21-23 For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.
Thus, though some who profess to follow the teachings of the ancient writings, believe that evil demons and spirits are responsible for their evil deeds, it is plain that they must look closer to home for their origin.
Despite there being no real evil beings in the universe, there is still a battle going on, between good and evil, within each one of us. If you want to find out how you can win this battle, please contact us.
Visitations
There is some confusion as to whether the Supreme Being, Yahweh, has ever directly visited the earth. Sometimes, the ancient writings appear to say that He has appeared to Man, but at other times, they state that(John 1:18) "No man hath seen God at any time, the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him'. (Exodus 33:20)
'And he said, Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live".
The confusion seems to arise when a messenger, or angel visits earth and is acting on behalf of Yahweh and so assumes the Name of God. This can be seen in the strange account of Jacob 'wrestling with God'...
Genesis 32:24 And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day. Genesis 32:30 And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.
At one stage, Jacob considers his adversary to be a man and later to be God. In order for the writings to be consistent, Jacob could not have wrestled face to face with God and lived. Therefore, it must have been a messenger assuming the Name of God.
There are many incidents concerning messengers or angels appearing to men, but here are a few more examples of the angels assuming the appearance of men;
Hebrews 13:2 Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.
Genesis 18:1-5 And the LORD appeared unto him in the plains of Mamre: and he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day; And he lift up his eyes and looked, and, lo, three men stood by him: and when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself toward the ground, And said, My LORD, if now I have found favour in thy sight, pass not away, I pray thee, from thy servant: Let a little water, I pray you, be fetched, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree: And I will fetch a morsel of bread, and comfort ye your hearts; after that ye shall pass on: for therefore are ye come to your servant. And they said, So do, as thou hast said.
Judges 6:22-23 And when Gideon perceived that he was an angel of the LORD, Gideon said, Alas, O LORD God! for because I have seen an angel of the LORD face to face. And the LORD said unto him, Peace be unto thee; fear not: thou shalt not die.
Judges 13:16 And the angel of the LORD said unto Manoah, Though thou detain me, I will not eat of thy bread: and if thou wilt offer a burnt offering, thou must offer it unto the LORD. For Manoah knew not that he was an angel of the LORD.
It is appropriate that the word 'angel' translates as 'messenger', since angels normally appeared to Mankind with a message from Jahweh and even though they may not appear directly to Man these days, the incidents are recorded for us because in many cases, the messages apply just as much to the people of today as they did to the people three thousand years ago.
Teleporting
The ability to be able to travel instantly from one place to another, has long been sought by Man. This must have been even more desirable, thousands of years ago, when travel was so difficult. There are a couple of instances of this in the ancient writings.Acts 8:39-40 And when they were come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, that the eunuch saw him no more: and he went on his way rejoicing. But Philip was found at Azotus: and passing through he preached in all the cities, till he came to Caesarea.
The second example, is not one so much of teleporting, as one of super- human strength! A man called Elijah ran for miles, matching the pace of a speeeding chariot and horses (1 Kings 18:46). This was carried out using a supernatural force, called 'the power of the LORD'.
UFOs
There would appear to be an early sighting of a 'UFO', recorded in the book of Exekiel, chapter 1. Yahweh appeared to the prophet in a vehicle, comprising of winged creatures (verse 11) and 'wheels intersecting wheels' (verse 16). It could rise up from the ground (verse 19). Above the heads of the creatures was some kind of canopy (verse 22). Above the canopy, or expanse, was a throne, where the 'Pilot', clothed in shining metallic apparel, was sat.Of course, the difference between this and many other sightings, is that this one was not 'unidentified'. We are told that this vehicle was from Yahweh and contained his messenger, though why the LORD chose this method to appear to His prophet, as opposed to the method of the messenger taking on human form, might need some explanation.
Ezekiel was one of the Jews who had been forcibly removed from his homeland to the land of the Babylonians. They were a demoralised people, and their present predicament was a punishment from Yahweh. It would take something rather spectacular to convince Exekiel that Yahweh was making contact once more, with His followers on earth.
Prophecy
There are many prophecies contained in the Ancient Writings. Many have amazingly already been fulfilled. This gives us confidence that the source or inspiration behind these writings (namely Yahweh) is true and accurate. We can therefore assume that the other prophecies will also come true. Space does not permit us to look at too many prophecies or to go into too much detail, but if you require more information, please send for our free, no obligation booklet, 'Light on Bible Prophecy'.Prophecy is also called 'history told in advance'.
2 Peter 1:20 & 21 states :-"Above all you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet's own interpretation. For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit."
Here are two quotes from the religious writings of Sir Isaac Newton :
"There is scarce a prophecy in the Old Testament which doth not in something or other relate to His (that is Christ's) second coming".
"Amongst the old prophets, Daniel is easiest to understand, and therefore in those things that relate to the last times, he must be made the key to the rest."
The Book of Daniel, chapter 2, tells of successive world empires, each building onto the last and the final one being destroyed by Yahweh's son, Jesus, who, it is foretold, will return to earth to establish a Kingdom which will last for a thousand years.
The other major prophecy you may wish to read is contained in the 24th chapter of the Book of Matthew, which lists the 'Signs of the Times' which will precede the return of Jesus to earth. These include, 'wars and rumours of war', ' famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes', 'there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets'.
All these 'signs' are happening around us at this very moment. That is why we can be sure that Jesus, the Son of Yahweh will return soon to set up the Kingdom of God on earth. If you want to hear more about the Kingdom of God, please contact us for a free, no obligation copy of our magazine "Light on a New World".
