How does watching Ancient Aliens cause confusion for many Christians that aren’t well grounded in scripture? Very easily. That’s how. What many people seem not to understand is that Ancient Aliens takes many things out of context in an attempt to force scripture and other ancient texts to fit the Ancient Astronaut Theory. Today’s questions and comments come from a reader that seems to have fallen for this deception, or at the very minimum has been enticed by their deceptive presentation of the information.
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Reader Questions and Comments
“I’m a Christian and I believe in the trinity. Many people forget that the Bible is a collection of writings by man much was handed down by word of mouth. The old testament is a history of faith and as stated in the Ancient Alien theory what was primitive man seeing with the language they had to explain the sightings or visions. The new testament teaches man how to live with one another according to Christ. Now I’ve never met the physical presents of the Holy Family I still believe and have faith in the life after death. Yet when reading the Bible why would Moses have to build a tent for God, Who are the sons of man that came down and saw that the daughters were fair and took them as their own, so, who were the giants that were created by this union? In Jacobs Latter why would Angles need a latter to come down from heaven when we say they have wings and fly. Ezekiel’s wheel what is it why would Angels need a device to approach an inferior being as mankind. These are question we should ask our spiritual leaders. Like I said FAITH binds me to the trust and belief in God and Christ through the Holy Spirit. Maybe God created other like beings and we’re not alone. Its a plausible theory.” – Robert
Be Not Deceived
Robert’s response to the article, Giorgio A. Tsoukalos: Master of Deception, is pretty long, so I’m going to address everything, point by point. I hope that by doing this, I can demonstrate just how far the producers are willing to go to deceive their audience and the lack of actual research that goes into referencing scripture. Even if they don’t believe scripture, that doesn’t give them the right to outright lie about what the Bible actually says.
Loading ...1. “Many people forget that the Bible is a collection of writings by man much was handed down by word of mouth.” – Actually, the tradition of scripture is that there are two doctrines that exist. There is the written word that was given to Moses, and the spoken word that was supposedly given to Moses. The spoken is known as Tannaic Doctrine, which is embraced by the teachings in the Midrash.
If we look at the development of writing, the oldest known writing occurs in Babylon/Sumer, which is also where Abraham was born and raised. It is very likely that Abraham knew how to write and we also know for a fact that the flood story, and many others were written about long before Moses wrote Genesis. Because of those facts, it is way off base to say that the Bible was handed down by word of mouth. In fact, according to the Sumerian account found in The Epic of Gilgamesh, their version of the flood story was written less than 200 years after the flood, which is evidence against these stories simply being word of mouth.
We also know, based on scripture, that Noah and his family settled somewhere near Babylon/Sumer after the flood. The ark came to rest on Ararat, which borders four countries, and the same area in which the flood stories originate.
It may be hard to tell based on the map, but Ararat borders four countries, which were all part of or had regular contact with Babylon/Sumer. These countries are:
- Turkey
- Armenia
- Iran
- Azerbaijan
Long story short, there is no reason to believe that the Bible was passed down via word of mouth when everyone from Noah to Abraham lived in an area where writing was known to exist prior to any place else on earth.
2. “The old testament is a history of faith and as stated in the Ancient Alien theory what was primitive man seeing with the language they had to explain the sightings or visions.” – Much of what people THINK the Bible says, is due to tradition and misunderstanding. For example, the mention of flying “chariots” is often cited by Ancient Aliens. What they don’t tell you is that the Hebrew words “merkabah” and “rekeb” don’t actually refer to a wooden, horse drawn, chariot. In general, they refer to a vehicle, but more specifically, the merkabah is depicted as follows:
“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.” – 2 Kings 2:11
Rekeb: From rakab; a vehicle; by implication, a team; by extension, cavalry; by analogy a rider, i.e. The upper millstone — chariot, (upper) millstone, multitude (from the margin), wagon.
If you are familiar with the work of Salvador Dali, then you’ll recognize the above as a four dimensional object unfolded into a three dimensional representation. I use to believe that these cultures were limited in their understanding, but research shows that they understood what they were seeing, probably better than we understand it now. To the right is a picture of Dali’s “Corpus Hypercubicus”, which is a four dimensional cross unfolded into a three dimensional representation.
In our modern culture, we try to naturalize the supernatural, and explain away anything that doesn’t make sense to us, in an attempt to get it to fit our preconceived notions. The ancient Hebrews saw the word “merkabah” and picture the above. We see the English word “chariot” and picture a wagon with wooden wheels. So who is it that really doesn’t understand what is being conveyed?
3. “Now I’ve never met the physical presents of the Holy Family I still believe and have faith in the life after death.” – The notion of a “holy family” is of Catholic origin, and not found in scripture. We are not to worship or pray to Mary or Joseph. It is Christ alone that we must go through according to:
“Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” – John 14:6
As we can see, it is Jesus himself that eliminates the notion that we need to pray to anyone else, including Mary, Joseph, or any “saints”. It is a non Biblical concept. Even though this doesn’t have anything directly to do with Ancient Aliens, I still felt it was important to address this topic.
4. “Yet when reading the Bible why would Moses have to build a tent for God…” – This is an excellent question, and to the untrained eye, it may appear as though Moses was building a tent for God, without any other underlying purpose. However, in order to understand what was going on, you need to understand the camping instructions that were given to the twelve tribes.
Once you see a visual of the camping instructions, you can clearly see that the completed camp forms a cross. The Tabernacle (tent) was placed in the center. Inside of the Tabernacle was the Ark of the Covenant, and the Shekinah Glory rested between the Cherubim. This is the scene we see in the throne room in the book of Revelation. Each of the living creatures has a face, which is represented above.
“And before the throne there was a sea of glass like unto crystal: and in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, were four beasts full of eyes before and behind. And the first beast was like a lion, and the second beast like a calf, and the third beast had a face as a man, and the fourth beast was like a flying eagle.” – Revelation 4:6-7
As part of the instructions, only one banner from each camp was to be flown, even though each of the twelve tribes had their own banner. The deeper we look, the more we can see that this camp was very well planned. However, the most impressive part of these camping instructions was the God was placed directly in the center of the cross, which points to the ultimate sacrifice of Christ.
The real question here is, did the Hebrews intentionally construct a picture prophecy that was hidden within the text of scripture? This tent wasn’t just a tent for God to live in. It was a depiction of God’s throne, and a prophecy and confirmation that Christ is who he claimed to be.
5. “Who are the sons of man that came down and saw that the daughters were fair and took them as their own, so, who were the giants that were created by this union?” – I think you are referring to “the sons of God”. For that I would point you to the following articles I’ve written on the subject, and in addition, my book, As The Days of Noah Were: The Sons of God and The Coming Apocalypse.
- Who Are The Sons of God? – Evidence From Judaism
- 21 Things Your Pastor Won’t Teach You About Angels
- Rapha: Post Flood Giants From Sodom To David
- Can Angels Sexually Reproduce?
- Days of Noah: The Most Epic Article You’ll Read All Year
The giants were hybrids that were part angel and part human. Stories of these hybrids appear all over the world, and are known as demigods in other cultures. Contrary to what Ancient Aliens would like us to believe, these are not alien beings. They were fallen supernatural beings, as recorded by almost every culture on earth. It is our modern society that wants to strip every supernatural element from the story and replace them with natural explanations that simply don’t fit when we look at the details.
6. “In Jacobs Latter why would Angles need a latter to come down from heaven when we say they have wings and fly.” – Here is another problem with listening to Ancient Aliens without actually reading scripture. “Jacob’s Ladder” was a dream. Scripture calls it a dream, but Ancient Aliens makes sure to exclude that little fact.
“And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it.” – Genesis 28:12
As far as your reference to angels with wings, that is TRADITION and not backed by scripture. Unfortunately, many people believe that the Bible describes angels as having wings, and Ancient Aliens feeds into this. As many “experts” as they claim to have on the show, we’d think that at least one of them would pick up a Bible since they love to comment on it so much. Those that have read the Bible, tend to get their words omitted or edited in such a way that they are made to look like they agree with the Ancient Alien Theory. Here are a few examples from people that were interviewed by the show.
Feel free to do some more digging into how Ancient Aliens twists the facts in order to fit their theory. They are way off base and very deceptive.
7. “Ezekiel’s wheel what is it why would Angels need a device to approach an inferior being as mankind.” – This is another misconception pushed by the Ancient Alien Agenda. What Ezekiel saw was a vision of God’s throne. There is nothing in the text that even remotely indicates that this was needed in order to approach Ezekiel. That is made up out of thin air on their part.
The so called “wheels” are actually ophanim (the many eyed one), and they were considered to be a type of supernatural being. They weren’t machines or anything like that. They were beings created by God.
Even more interesting is that the Nation of Islam, but more specifically Elijah Muhammad, believed that the ophanim were what people saw when they reported seeing “flying saucers”. In regards to understanding the spiritual implications behind UFO sightings, black Muslims in America have been very outspoken about this for decades and more informed on the subject than most Christians.
8. “Maybe God created other like beings and we’re not alone. Its a plausible theory.” – The Bible is 100% clear that God created other types of beings. The Bible never makes the claim that human beings are alone in the universe. In fact, the Bible talks about at least fifteen different types of spirits that exist. Some of them overlap classifications, but they are all mentioned. The following is a link to an audio study that I did on the subject:
As far as Ancient Aliens being a plausible theory, it is if you want to ignore what scripture and history actually say, what people actually believed, and completely fabricate certain evidence to get it to fit. While the show is entertaining and has done a good job at getting people interested in the subject alternative history, they fall short when it comes to credibility.
The Breakdown
We as Christians need to have a solid Biblical foundation before we start entertaining shows like Ancient Aliens. They are known twisters of scripture and will do so every chance they get, in order to push their Ancient Astronaut Theory on the world. For those that don’t actually know the truth, the points they make sound intelligent, but when we take a deeper look at those points, they start to sound ridiculous and uninformed.
What Do You Think?
I’d love to know how you feel about the Ancient Aliens series and the misinformation presented in their shows. Feel free to leave a comment and share your thoughts.
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Ma.Evelyn D. Vergara says:
I am happy to note there are authors/teachers/ ministries who DO NOT teach hate for Any race, including hebrews. That means a MINISTRY really done in humility and mercy. Like Yshua Christ did. Good for you sir, Minister Fortson et al.
Paul says:
Why Does God need a tent? God doesn’t need a tent at all. The point of the tent is that it isn’t just a tent. The tent, like Minister Fortson said was a model for the throne of God. The Bible mentions that the tabernacle, the ark of the covenant, the temple, all of these things are MODELS of the real versions in heaven. He gives them to us so that we might interact with him in a very precise way so that we aren’t eradicated by his holiness. That is the first step to the full answer.
I think people forget that God cannot “dwell” with us directly. We are sinful, disgusting beings. Sin is abhorrent to God, it repels him, it might even be harmful to him, in a sense. I’m not 100% on that (I’m studying the old testament hard right now, but I’m not entirely through with it). We cannot fathom his Holiness when we frame things in that manner. Really studying Exodus, Leviticus, and the Law gives us just a TINY glimpse into understanding just how holy God really is and how utterly terrible we are.
God, however, desires to be near us. He creates these things, this tent for instance, to help bridge the gap. Everything is temporary until Christ arrives. He is our permanent bridge to God. Again, as Minister Fortson pointed out in the article, the tabernacle points to Christ. Remember, the actual gospel is Christ died for our sins, according to the scriptures. People forget that last part. Christ’s life and death was foreshadowed in almost every situation and word of the old testament. I think Jesus even says “the volume of the book is written of me.” Maybe that is a Psalm… can’t remember. Remember, when Jesus was around there was no “new testament,” just the scriptures, the old testament we have today. When you discover Jesus in the old testament, his entire life prophesied hundreds of years before his arrival, it cements your faith in an incredible way.
All the rules of the “tent,” since that was the inquiry, are intermediary steps to cleanse us of unrighteousness, the intermediary chambers of this tabernacle represent that. They speak of a “purification” in a sense so that we might dwell directly with God without being consumed like Aaron’s sons by His righteous fire. God treats sin exactly like a disease: everything must be cleansed with fire to prevent its spread. Fire is the only thing that consumes all. IE the burnt offering.
The high priest, being allowed to enter the holy of holies, can have direct interaction with God, or more accurately, his “telephone line” through the Shekinah Glory, on behalf of the nation through more involved rituals. Christians gain that purification through the blood sacrifice of Jesus Christ, just as Jews had to sacrifice animals as a stopgap measure to cleanse themselves of sin. Every element of the tabernacle deals specifically with an element of our journey to Christ. Everything from the outside of the tent, to the type of fabrics of the tent itself, to the furnishings inside and outside the tent. Everything. The temple in Jerusalem just takes this to the Nth degree.
The ark in the holy of holies represents God’s throne. The cherubim protecting him, his foundation is the law contained within. Also includes elements of his mercy, the manna, and Aaron’s staff, which i think is also representative of Jesus in a way (again, not 100%).
I think Minister Fortson can be very abrupt in his writings. However, if he expands too much, his articles would be monstrous. He has to summarize his position, he gives you scripture, though. You have to crack open the book to get the insight. The Bible is written by God, who can see the end from the beginning. That is why it can be hard to interpret sometimes. I think if we had the ability to read the entire book at once, it would be more clear, that is why it takes study, we just don’t have that Matrix like ability to cram things in our minds all at once.
The Bible is a lifelong commitment, find someone you trust and work together to study it, reference that with scholars of the past and present to verify and expand your discoveries. Put Jesus right in the middle of all your questions and you will most likely find your answers. The Holy Spirit will guide you.
I hope Minister Fortson can clear up any of my errors here. I emphasize that I’m still learning and still very young in my spiritual walk.
Minister Fortson says:
Scott,
Just because YOU don’t understand or YOU don’t like the answer, doesn’t mean the question wasn’t answered. It was answered in the article and it was just answered again for you. God didn’t need a tent. He used the ORGANIZATION of the camp to deliver a prophecy and a visual of his throne. How about you pick up the book and read it, instead of listening to stupid big haired morons that don’t even attempt to find an answer to the question they are asking. I’m referring to Giorgio if you haven’t figured that out yet.