FAR BEYOND STAR WARS! In the on-going STAR
WARS motion picture saga, with Star Wars II: The Attack of the Clones, a dramatic picture is painted
of colossal intrigue, large-scale cosmic battles, and
a struggle for supremacy in the Universe. But what is the TRUE story of the history
of the Universe?
Truth is far stranger and superior to mere fiction! There Really WERE awesome cosmic star wars in
primordial times. The evidence of ancient catastrophic
planetary collisions and upheavals in the Solar System provides a stark
glimpse into the results of these
mind-boggling conflicts. Incredible,
plain evidence proves violent planetary collisions have
occurred. Human eye witnesses on earth place many of these events in
the time of man. And Bible evidence shows when, where, and WHY these
cataclysms occurred and what the
FUTURE holds! William F. Dankenbring
Many astronomers have speculated that the asteroids between Mars and Jupiter could be the cosmic debris of an ancient planet which was torn apart in some primordial celestial cataclysm. Generally, the theory has been ignored, or put on the shelf, by most modern astronomers because it seems so difficult to explain an entire planet virtually blowing apart !
Nevertheless, some scientists believe the former planet, which some have called "Electra, " may have been half the size of our moon. If it passed too close to another planet, gravitation forces could have created enormous stresses within the smaller body. Over a period of time, and perhaps several close encounters, these stresses and the unrelenting pull of gravity might cause such a planet to explode into fragments.
The former planet which disintegrated may have had a diameter of 1,000 miles -- half the Moon's diameter, and one fourth the diameter of Mars. The largest asteroid's diameter is 480 miles. Iapetus, the second largest satellite of Saturn, interestingly has a diameter of 1,000 miles.
The fact that the four outermost satellites of Jupiter are small irregular shaped rocks, and orbit Jupiter in retrograde motion, also suggests that they, too, were once part of such a former planet.
Deimos and Phobos, the two satellites of Mars, also could have been fragments of this ancient planet. The four outer satellites of Jupiter, Andastea, Pan, Poseidon, and Hades, vary in size from about 10 to 25 miles in diameter, similar to Deimos and Phobos.
Phobos, about eight miles in diameter, is irregular in shape, fragment-like, changes magnitudes, and was very difficult for astronomers to detect. When Asaph Hall announced in 1877 that he had located two hitherto unreported moons on Mars, a genuine shock rocked astronomical circles. In naming the two moons, Hall chose the names of those two tiny mythical companions of Mars in Greek cosmology -- Deimos ("Panic") and Phobos ("Fear").
Mars, being such a small planet, was thought too small to capture moons. But once they were seen, astronomers had to accept their existence. Astronomers point out that Jupiter, 3000 times the mass of Mars, only captured four asteroids. For Mars to have been able to capture two satellites seemed astounding.
But even more astounding and incredible is the fact that the novelist Jonathan Swift who published Gullivers' Travels in 1726 -- one hundred and fifty years before Asaph Hall discovered the two moons of Mars -- actually wrote of them in his book!
According to Swift the two Martian moons were well known to the astronomers of Laputa. Swift recounted: ". . . they have likewise discovered two lesser Stars or Satellites, which revolve about Mars, whereof the innermost is distant from the centre of the Primary Planet exactly three of his Diameters, and the outermost five; the former revolves in the Space of ten hours, and the latter in Twenty-one and a Half; so that the Squares of their periodical Times are very near in the same Proportion with the Cubes of their Distance from the Center of Mars, which evidently shews them to be governed by the same Law of Gravitation, that influences the other heavenly Bodies."
Swift actually described the distance of these two satellites from Mars in terms of Mars' diameter implying measurement and calculation. The Laputans, according to Swift, said Phobos was three Mars’ diameters from the planet (12,420 miles). Modern instruments reveal it is actually 7,897 miles away. The Laputans said Phobos orbited Mars every 10 hours. Modern measurements show the actual time is 7 hours 39 minutes. The Laputans put the diameter of Deimos’ orbit as five Mars diameters (20,700 miles). It is actually 16,670 miles. They put the revolution of Deimos at 21 l/2 hours. It is actually 30 hours 18 minutes. These figures are simply dumfounding if Swift invented the whole story out of thin air – the crevices of his own vivid imagination! Its simply uncanny.
How did Jonathan Swift know about Mars’ two moons? How did he come so close in calculating their orbits and periods of revolution?
Isaac Asimov called it "an amazing coincidence." He added, "However, his guess that Phobos would rise in the west and set in the east because of its speed of revolution is uncanny. It is undoubtedly the luckiest guess in literature." Or was it a “guess” at all?
To ascribe Swift's detailed description to mere guesswork is, however, laughable. He must have been familiar with certain records which described the two satellites of Mars. Perhaps, as some have suggested, his friend and contemporary, William Whiston, a leading astronomer, historian, and catastrophist, helped Swift calculate these facts. But where did the records come from? Alas, no body knows where Jonathan Swift obtained his information. The information may have been developed from ancient Greek myths about Mars and its two companions, Deimos and Phobos.
Perhaps at some ancient time the planet Mars had a different orbit -- or the earth did -- or they both did -- and they passed relatively close to each other. Viewers from the earth could at that time have detected the two small companions of Mars. Their ancient sightings gave rise to the mythology of the god Mars and his two tiny companions. Or perhaps ancient astronomers had telescopes that enabled them to see the companions of Mars!
This
may seem like science fiction or fantasy – but modern research has proved the
ancients did possess telescopes, invented batteries, and there is even evidence
of ancient “flying machines,” and perhaps even the discovery of nuclear
energy. Ancient documents in
Regardless of the source, however, these puzzling facts provide more evidence of ancient disruptive and destructive encounters between the planets in the remote past, eons ago.
Other evidence for ancient catastrophism in the solar system can be adduced from studies of the Moon and planet Mars. Close up photographs of Mars sent back to earth from Mariner spacecraft show the surface of Mars is crater-ridden. Huge craters, such as exist on the moon, cover the surface of Mars. These craters are signs of massive meteoric impacts. The surface of Mars has been compared to an ancient battlefield.
With only one tenth the mass of the earth, and possessing a meteor ravaged surface, Mars seems to possess the scars of ancient conflicts. It seems amazing to astronomers, but Mars -- unlike the other planets of the solar system -- has a day almost equal to the earth's day. The time of axial rotation of Mars is 24 hours, 37 minutes and 23 seconds; the earth's day is 23 hours, 56 minutes, 4 seconds. No other two planets are so alike in the duration of their day.
Another striking resemblance between the two planets is the inclination of their axis of rotation. The equator of Mars is inclined 24 degrees to the plane of its orbit, whereas the equator of the earth is inclined 23 1/2 degrees to the plane of its ecliptic. Such a similarity is unequalled among all the other planets of the solar system.
Is it possible that the axis of rotation and the velocity of rotation of Mars, stabilized and supported in their present position and rate by certain forces, were influenced originally by the earth at the time of contact? Mars, being small as compared with the earth, influenced to a lesser degree the rotation of the earth and the position of its poles.
The solar system has many other anomalies which bear testimony to the fact that in ancient times there were great disruptions among the planets. Even the rings of Saturn -- three rings composed of countless particles of ice or frost-covered gravel which circle the planet at different speeds -- bespeak evidence of ancient catastrophism. Saturn, the most remote planet known in antiquity, is the only planet which would float in water. Its low density is 13 percent of the earth's. One of its moons, Phoebe, like four of the moons of Jupiter, is retrograde in motion and may well be a captured asteroid.
The moon reveals evidence of bombardment from space. Most of the great craters were created by small asteroids -- mountains of rock -- hurtling in from space and colliding with the surface. So many asteroids have impacted on the moon that its entire surface was smashed into a new shape.
The crater of Tycho, nearly sixty miles across, is merely one of many lunar craters, by no means one of the largest. The far side of the moon, photographs from space and Apollo space
shots show, was hammered so violently by meteors that the entire original crust was shattered and torn apart. The blasts of crashing asteroids and meteors released huge volcanic eruptions covering vast sections of the moon with flowing lava. The maria are actually huge lava seas.
Mars, also, and even Venus, we know to be covered with huge craters from twenty to hundreds of miles in diameter.
But the earth also shows evidence of ancient collisions with astral
bodies. In addition to the 4,000 foot Barringer Crater in
But what does this evidence tell us? What is the “story” behind the evidence? Have massive interplanetary collisions occurred in ancient times?
The earth, Mars, Venus, and the moon all bear the scars of such ancient encounters. What about the outer planets?
Edward Stone of the California
Institute of Technology (Caltech), the chief scientist of the Voyager program,
declared, “It was Voyager that focused our attention on the importance of
collisions,” in our solar system. He
added, “The cosmic crashes were potent sculptors of the Solar System.”
Interplanetary collisions?
What an idea!
Thousands of years ago, the ancient Sumerians
believed that the planets at times engaged in interplanetary collisions
resulting in massive destruction. Says
Zechariah Sitchin,
“Central to their cosmogony, worldview, and religion was a cataclysmic event that they
called the Celestial Battle. It was an event to which references were made in miscellaneous
Sumerian texts, hymns, and proverbs -- just as we find in the Bible's books of Psalms,
Proverbs, Job, and various others. But the Sumerians also described the event in detail, step
by step, in a long text that required seven tablets. Of its Sumerian original only fragments
and quotations have been found; the mostly complete text has reached us in the Akkadian
language, the language of the Assyrians and Babylonians who followed the Sumerians in
And, with a single cosmogonic premise, it explains puzzles that still baffle our astronomers
and astro-physicists” (Genesis Revisited, p.23).
Sitchin points out that until the
Voyager discoveries, “the prevailing scientific view-point considered the Solar
System as we see it today as the way it had taken shape soon after its
beginning, formed by immutable laws of celestial motion and the force of
gravity. There have been oddballs, to be sure -- meteorites that come from
somewhere and collide with the stable members of the Solar System, pock-marking
them with craters, and comets that zoom about in greatly elongated orbits,
appearing from somewhere and disappearing, it seems, to nowhere. But these
examples of cosmic debris, it has been assumed, go back to the very beginning
of the Solar System, some 4.5 billion years ago, and are pieces of planetary
matter that failed to be in- corporated into the planets or their moons and
rings.”
He continues, “A little more
baffling has been the asteroid belt, a band of rocks that forms an orbiting
chain between Mars and Jupiter. According to Bode's law, an empirical rule that
explains why the planets formed where they did. There should have been a
planet, at least twice the size of Earth. between Mars and Jupiter. Is the
orbiting debris of the asteroid belt the remains of such a planet? The
affirmative answer is plagued by two problems: the total amount of matter in
the asteroid belt does not add up to the mass of such a planet, and there is no
plausible explanation for what might have caused the breakup of such a
hypothetical planet; if a celestial collision -- when, with what, and why? The
scientists had no answer.’
All the speculations became moot, however,
after the new evidence from the Uranus fly-by in 1986 shocked and dumfounded
the astronomical world. The realization
dawned that there must have been at least one or more major celestial collisions
that changed the complexion of the solar system long after it was originally
created. The Uranus flyby in 1986, as
Dr. Stone admitted, revealed that Uranus was not only tilted on its side, as
was already known from telescopic and other observations even before the
Voyager encounter -- but Voyager showed it was NOT formed that way from the
very beginning! Rather, some external
force – such as a forceful collision or encounter with another major celestial
body – most likely caused the tilting of Uranus!
Close-up examination of the moons of Uranus by
Voyager 2 revealed the fact that these moons swirl around the equator of Uranus
in its tilted position. This made
scientists wonder whether these moons were there at the time of the tilting
event, or whether they formed after the event, perhaps from matter thrown out
by the force of the collision that tilted Uranus.
Zechariah Sitchin points out that the
“theoretical basis for the answer was enunciated, prior to the encounter with
Uranus, among others by Dr. Christian Veillet of the French Centre d'Etudes et
des Recherches Geo-dynamiques. If the moons formed at the same time as Uranus,
the celestial ‘raw material,’ from which they agglomerated should have
condensed the heavier matter nearer the planet; there should be more of heavier,
rocky material and thinner ice coats on the inner moons and a lighter
combination of materials (more water ice, less rocks) on the outer moons. By
the same principle of the distribution of material in the Solar System -- a
larger proportion of heavier matter nearer the Sun, more of the lighter matter
(in a ‘gaseous’ state) farther out -- the moons of the more distant Uranus
should be proportionately lighter than those of the nearer Saturn” (ibid., p.25).
He goes on, “But the findings revealed a situation
contrary to these expectations. In the comprehensive summary reports on the
Uranus encounter, published in Science,
These findings by Voyager 2
were not the only ones suggesting that the moons of Uranus were not formed at
the same time as the planet itself but rather some time later, in unusual
circumstances.
Another discovery that puzzled the
scientists, was that the rings of Uranus, were pitch-black, "blacker than
coal dust," presumably composed of carbon rich material. These dark rings, warped, tilted, and
"bizarrely elliptical," were quite unlike the symmetrical bracelets
of icy particles circling Saturn.
Pitch-black also were six of the new moonlets discovered at Uranus, some
acting as “shepherds” for the rings.
Declares Sitchin, “The obvious
conclusion was that the rings and moonlets were formed from the debris of a
‘violent event in Uranus’ past.’
Assistant project scientist at JPL Ellis Miner stated it in simpler
words. ‘A likely possibility is that an interloper
from outside the Uranus system came in and struck a once larger moon
sufficiently hard to have fractured it.’
“The theory of a catastrophic celestial
collision as the event that could explain all the odd phenomena on Uranus and
its moons and rings was further strengthened by the discovery that the
boulder-size black debris that forms the Uranus rings circles the planet once
every eight hours -- a speed that is twice the speed of the planet's own
revolution around it's axis. This raises the question, how was this
much-higher speed imparted to the debris in the rings?” (p.26).
Some astronomers speculate that it probably happened about four billion
years ago, but astronomer Garry Hunt of the
What was the cause of these signs of planetary upheaval and disarray?
What was the “something” that collided with Uranus, banged into its
moons, and created the situation we see today? What, when, and why?
And what about the planet
Says Sitchin, “Before the Voyager 2
flyby of
The dark material that shows up on one side of
Nereid could be explained in one of two ways -- but both require a collision by
some large body or planet!
What was the cause?
Says Zechariah Sitchin, the ancient Sumerian
texts show that besides the members of our solar system which we know as the
Sun, Mercury, Venus, Earth, our Moon, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and
Neptune, there was a planet between Mars and Jupiter which was called
Tiamat. Geologist Donald Patton calls
this planet “Electra.” Part of its
remains now circle between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter as asteroids – the
infamous “asteroid belt.” But in
addition to this planet, there was another – an invader – which appeared. They called it Nibiru; the Babylonians named
it Marduk, in honor of their national god.
It came from outer space, from “the Deep,” in the words of the Sumerian
text.
Stichin writes, “But as it approached the outer planets of our
Solar System, it began to be drawn into it. As expected, the first outer planet
to attract Nibiru with its gravitational pull was
According to Sitchin, Nibiru/Marduk entered
the solar system in a retrograde orbit, opposite to that of the other planets,
and thus could account for the retrograde orbit of the moon Triton, and the
highly elliptical and unusual orbits of other moons and comets.
Sitchin theorizes that Nibiru/Marduk passed
near the former planet Tiamat/Electra, causing a cataclysm resulting in the
destruction of that planet. As
gravitational and magnetic forces came into play, Tiamat was torn asunder,
ripped apart, in the great cosmic “battle” of the celestial “gods.”
Could these evidences of major destruction in
the history of the solar system correlate with major events detailed in the
Scriptures? Could this great celestial
battle and the resultant destruction be one of the “signs” of the celestial
conflict in primordial ages when Lucifer rebelled against God, ascended into
heaven, and was cast down?
Could some of the cosmic debris and strange
anomalies in the solar system be explained by the cosmic encounters which
evidently occurred during the time of the Exodus of the children of Israel out
of Egypt, when horrendous plagues rained down upon Egypt, the Minoan
civilization was destroyed in the eastern Mediterranean, the Red Sea stood up
in heaps allowing Israel safe journey across, mountains melted, and hills
“skipped like lambs”?
What
do the Scriptures say about these things?
Tohu and Bohu
In the pages of Genesis, as it relates to the original creation of the universe, we read the simple, matter-of-fact statement: "In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth" (Genesis 1:1, King James Version). The Amplified Bible renders this verse: "In the beginning God (prepared, formed, fashioned) and created the heavens and the earth." The Good News Bible states: "In the beginning, when God created the universe. . ." The Moffatt Translation: "When God began to form the universe. . ." The Goodspeed Translation: "When God began to create the heavens and the earth. . ."
What exactly does the book of Genesis tell us? That God created the universe -- the heavens and the earth -- in a period of time called, simply, "the beginning." How long ago that primeval creation occurred we are not told anywhere in the Scripture. To determine that, God has given us brains and intellect! There is much evidence that the Universe is far younger than most cosmological speculations today tend to suggest!
That time of “beginning” could well have been seven to ten thousand years ago! Age-estimates of the age of the Universe are singularly weak in proof and totally unconvincing.
However, whenever that “BEGINNING” occurred, notice what happened next! Verse two of Genesis, chapter one, continues: "And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep" (King James Version).
Is this verse describing the original creation as being formless and void? If so, it would seem a contradiction. Verse one tells us God created the heavens and the earth. When God creates something, it is beautiful, grand, and majestic. In the 38th chapter of the book of Job, we read: "Where was thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding. Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? or who hath stretched the line upon it? Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? or who laid the corner stone thereof? When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy? " (vs. 4-7).
If the original earth had been created a chaotic ruin, formless and void, the angels would not have "sang together" or have "shouted for joy."
Isaiah 45:18 adds more light on this enigmatic passage. The prophet declares: "For thus saith the Lord that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am the Lord; and there is none else" (King James Version).
The Hebrew word translated "vain" here is tohu and means "to lie waste," "a desolation," "a desert." It can also be translated "confusion," "empty place," "without form," "nothing," "wilderness." It is the very same word used in Genesis 1:2, where we read the earth "was without form."
One place says God created the earth and it "was without form"; in another place we read God did not create the earth "without form." Is this a contradiction? Not at all! The key to understanding this confusing, seemingly contradictory and complex problem lies in the little word "was." It can also be translated "became." In fact, in Genesis 19:26 it is translated "became." We read: "And Lot's wife became a pillar of salt."
What happened, then, is this: When God originally created the earth, it was indeed a lovely place. He created it with no waste, no wilderness, no desolation. It was inhabited. The angels leaped for joy, and shouted with admiration and enthusiasm when they beheld the primeval earth.
But then something happened. It became "tohu" -- that is, waste, a ruin, a desolation. The original earth suffered a time of tremendous violence – a great cataclysm -- a cosmic catastrophe. The Hebrew words translated "without form and void" in Genesis 1:2 literally mean a desolation, a wilderness, an empty, uninhabited ruin. These words, tohu and bohu are very strong words and denote catastrophe. They strongly suggest that some sort of primeval cataclysm occurred.
When Lucifer and his angels rebelled against God, there was a shudder – a paroxysm – in the fabric of the Universe! Destruction ! Paroxysm! Chaos! For the first time, beings who had been “sons of light” turned to the “dark side” of the “force” – went astray in a massive but abortive rebellion!
Angels in the Bible are called “stars” (Rev.1:20). What happened in the rebellion of these “stars” was reflected in what happened to the literal “stars” – that is, the planets and heavenly bodies in our solar system! Wreckage! The massive tell-tale signs of awesome violence and catastrophe in the solar system reflects the debris and results from the initial WAR of the wicked angels in their first rebellion against God, and their subsequent attempts to thwart and destroy God’s plan on this earth for mankind!
There is an ancient Jewish belief that God set in motion a divine plan of 7,000 years, reflected in the seven-day week. The first 6,000 years man rules the earth, but under the influence of Satan, who is the “god of this world” (II Cor.4:4). Then the Messiah will return and bring peace and restore the Kingdom of God on the earth, and rule for a thousand years (Rev.20:4). These seven thousand-year “days” are also patterned after the seven “sefirot” of God – that is, His seven divine, visible attributes. But in addition to these external attributes, God also has three hidden attributes – wisdom, knowledge and understanding. These could well reflect three other “days” in primordial time, BEFORE the manifestation of the visible Universe of the time of man!
That is, before man was created, to begin the 7,000 year plan of God,
there were three primal days of 1,000 years each – or 3,000 years – in which
God worked with the angelic kingdom. In
other words, Satan’s government and rulership would have begun about 9,000
years ago; perhaps his rebellion occurred after 2,000 years of tranquility and
harmony; and when he rebelled, great cosmic destruction took place about 1,000
years before the creation of Adam, leaving the earth in tohu v’ vohu for
about one thousand years, with darkness covering the deep. And THEN God began the re-creation
process, with MAN as His ultimate, crowning achievement!
In the New Testament the apostle Peter tells us that "God did not spare the angels when they sinned. . . ." (II Peter 2:4). The apostle Jude also refers to the punishment that befell the angels "that did not keep their own position but left their proper dwelling" (Jude 6).
The awesome destructions in the solar system that occurred long before man existed may very well have been directly connected with the rebellion and activity of certain angels described in the pages of Scripture. With the physical evidence in mind, let us try to reconstruct what happened in the days of old.
Jesus told his disciples: "I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven" (Luke 10:18).
At some ancient time, some point in history, Satan fell from heaven. When did it happen?
A hint of the truth is given in the gospel according to John. Jesus said to the Pharisees of his day: "Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it" (John 8:44).
Long before becoming a human being, and partaking of human nature, Jesus had been with the Father from the beginning. He was the "Word," the second member of the Godhead. He said to the hypocritical Pharisees of his day: "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am" (John 8:58). He was with God, and was God (John 1:1-3,14).
At that ancient primordial time, Jesus saw Satan fall as lightning out of heaven. He saw him when he became a Murderer "from the beginning. " He saw him when he first began to harbor thoughts of resentment, vanity, jealousy, greed, avarice, and gluttony. He saw him when he first began to stray from the truth, and began to become deceitful, tricky, clever, guilty of half-truths, slander, gossip, and falsehoods.
Jesus, as the Logos, was there (John 1:1-3). He beheld Lucifer’s fall with His own eyes!
A much fuller account of the story is provided by the prophet Isaiah. Notice what the prophet was inspired to record: "How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!
"For thou has said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit" (Isaiah 14:12-15).
The term “son of the morning” here is the Hebrew word shakar and means “dawn, early, light, morning.” The name “Lucifer” is the Hebrew word heylel and means “the morning star,” in the sense of “brightness,” from the word halal, meaning “to be clear, to shine; hence, to boast, to make a show,” thus to be “foolish,” “rage, rave, feign self mad.” Lucifer was a “morning star” who perverted his original wisdom and became “mad,” raging, perverting his brightness. Interestingly, Jesus Himself is also referred to as “the bright and morning star” (Rev.22:16). He is the true “day star” (II Pet.1:19).
Here the prophet Isaiah describes what happened eons ago! An archangel by the name of Lucifer, which means "Day star," or "Shining star of the dawn," rebelled against the Almighty God. He attempted to ascend to heaven, to exalt his own throne or seat of authority above the other angels, called "stars of God." He attempted to ascend above the clouds (clouds are in the earth's atmosphere), to rise up and conquer space -- to remove God from His Throne -- to become "like the Most High." But his abortive attempt failed. He was cast back down to earth in a massive struggle.
Just how big was this cosmic battle for control of the Universe? Why did Lucifer want to be "like the most High”? Lucifer was a very powerful personality, a mighty angel of God. But his angelic nature, consumed with greed and lust, became a loathsome thing, detestable, unclean, filthy, vile, putrid, ugly, distorted, misshapen, foul. He became characterized as a slithering serpent, a vile snake, a detestable dragon.
In the book of Revelation, John tells us: "And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth . . ." (Revelation 12: 3-4). Notice! Perhaps ONE THIRD OF THE ANGELS followed Lucifer in his campaign to fight against God! During this cosmic conflict it is probable that tens of thousands of meteorites in the solar system were also cast down upon the earth, and that the solar system itself sustained massive damage, as we see attested to by modern astronomy.
John describes this vision further: “And there was WAR in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, and prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him” (Rev. 12:7-9). John’s comments, which literally apply to a FUTURE “war in heaven,” are also no doubt very descriptive of the ANCIENT “star war” which occurred when Lucifer first rebelled!
This “war in heaven” must have been catastrophic in nature. It must have been the greatest battle of all time! Armies of angels clashing with each other! The entire cosmos must have been shaken. The fantastic truth of what happened eons ago makes the Star War movies pale into nothingness by comparison!
Peter speaks of the cataclysmic fall of Lucifer and his renegade angels this way: “For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell (Greek, tartaroo, a “place of restraint”), and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment” (II Peter 2:4). These angels had “sinned.” But what is “sin?” The Bible defines it as rebellion, lawlessness. “Sin is the transgression of the law,” John wrote (1 John 3:4).
One third of the angelic hosts, apparently, sinned -- violated the laws of God -- and acted wantonly. They attempted to overthrow the Government of the Creator God. They precipitated violence on a cosmic scale never before heard of or seen! They went astray from the paths of peace, goodness, faith, righteousness.
They looked upon God as a tyrant, a malevolent dictator, not fit for His office, not capable of running the Universe. They wanted their way. They wanted their ambitions -- right now! They wanted to seize God's Throne and take over -- He wasn't running things right, in their eyes. Perhaps they were jealous -- they thought He was playing favorites and they didn't feel on the "'inside group."
The prophet Ezekiel tells us what happened to one of these two cherubim. "Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord God; Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty. Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God. . ." (Ezekiel 28: 11-13).
Note that this could not be describing a literal king of the City of Tyre. The garden of Eden perished at the Noachian deluge, and Tyre did not become a city until much, much later. This king, as we shall see, was actually a super-powerful spirit being – which are known as cherubim!
Ezekiel continues: "Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the saphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created. Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou has walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou was created, TILL INQUITY was found in thee" (Ezek. 28:13-15).
Consider, for a moment the import of these statements. Ezekiel is describing a beautiful, resplendent, angelic creature -- one of the two anointed cherubim that covered God's Throne in heaven! This creature walked upon the holy mountain of God, in the garden of God in Eden. It was a created being -- and it was a perfect creation!
But then something happened to change the beautiful nature and character of this brilliant, shining angelic being. "Iniquity" was found in him. A root of bitterness, a root of jealousy, of envy, of hatred, began to spring up (compare Hebrews 12:15).
Ezekiel continues the description of this ancient scene: "By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire. Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee.
"Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine iniquities, by the iniquity of thy traffick; therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, it shall devour thee, and I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee. All they that know thee among the people shall be astonished at thee: thou shalt be a terror, and never shall thou be any more" (Ezekie1 28: 16-19).
What happened eons ago?
Lucifer's heart was lifted up with pride. He became vain because of his beauty and brilliance. His wisdom became corrupted, and channeled into selfish, devious directions. God had said he "sealed up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty" (Ezek. 28: 12). But this beautiful creature became disloyal, disobedient, and destructive.
If we can reconstruct the scene, it would appear that in that ancient world there was much merchandise and traffic. Trade and commerce existed. The world was populated by millions of angels, and their king was Lucifer. His throne was on the earth. But he wasn't satisfied. He was a great king, and the greatest human king to compare with him was the king of Tyre, the mercantile city, in the days of Ezekiel.
But this angelic king grew restless, discontent. He was unhappy with his lot – his dissatisfaction grew as he envied the power, authority, and honor of God. He grew jealous. He said, "I will ascend into heaven." That shows he was located on the earth. "I will exalt my throne above the stars of God" (Isaiah 14:13). That shows he was a king, a ruler -- he had a throne on the earth. God had given him this authority. But he wanted MORE! And he wanted it NOW!!! He wanted to reign upon the mountain of God, "in the sides of the north" -- just like God Himself! (same verse).
Many verses of the Bible lend support to the theory that God's Throne is located in the northern heavens, in the general direction of the North Star. King David wrote: "Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised in the city of our God, in the mountain of his holiness. Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, is Mount Zion, on the sides of the north, the city of the great King" (Psalm 48: 1-2). The city of God, the heavenly Jerusalem, as we know, is now in heaven (Revelation 21: 1-2).
Lucifer wasn't satisfied with kingship over this earth. He wasn't satisfied with being one of the two anointed cherubim that actually covered God's Throne -- a position of great importance and supreme respect -- very close to the throne itself. He wasn't even happy when God gave him his own throne upon the earth, over millions of angels. His heart seethed with discontent. He wanted what God had! He was created to be a ministering angel -- but he wanted to be ministered to, not to minister to others. He didn't want to be a servant. He wanted to be served!
Very likely the straw which finally broke the camel's back was the fact that God intended to create man, and to give him eventual dominion over the earth and the angelic kingdom. This Lucifer could not stand!
He rebelled!
And God dealt severely with his rebellion. God's attitude toward rebellion is revealed in the first book of the prophet Samuel: "And Samuel said, hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, he hath also rejected thee from being king" (1 Samuel 15:22-23).
Lucifer was also rejected from being a king. He lost his throne, his kingdom, his power. But he still has limited authority upon the earth, and is the "god of this world," the "prince of the power of the air." He will remain in that position until God is through with him and replaces him.
Ever since that original rebellion, there has been a constant, ongoing, continual struggle between Satan, the "Adversary," and God. Lucifer's name, "Light bringer," was changed to "Satan," meaning "opponent."
Satan and his fallen angels, now disembodied spirits, roam the earth, in a condition of restraint. They have very little power compared to that which they used to exert. They cannot appear to men in strength and power, as the righteous angels can. They are vague shadows of their former selves. They have lost their intense brightness and brilliance. They are ghostly beings, like the wind, and are called "familiar spirits" that peep and mutter (Leviticus 19:31; 20:27; Isaiah 8:19-20).
But let’s go back in the story, once more, and see just what happened when this great rebellion – the original STAR WAR – broke out! The thrilling story is more than merely hinted at in the opening verses of Genesis – “in the beginning.”
The rest of chapter one of Genesis describes the RE-creation of the earth, and life upon it, AFTER the rebellion of Lucifer and his angels. Notice the description:
After the chaos and destruction which occurred, in verse two of Genesis one, God began a process of re-creation, reconstruction, if you please, which lasted for seven days. After the great cataclysm, the earth was cut off from the light of the sun, moon and stars. Darkness prevailed everywhere. As verse two says: " And the earth was (became) without form and void (tohu and bohu); and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters." What do we see then? An earth destroyed, in pitch darkness, covered by water, the continents submerged, due to some great cataclysm.
During the process of reconstruction or re-creation, God first caused the light from the sun to penetrate the atmosphere once again, in a diffused manner (Genesis 1: 3-5), allowing day and night to become discernible. He created order in the atmosphere (verses 6-8). He caused the dry land to appear once again (verse 10). He caused the earth to once again bring forth life, plants, vegetation, of all kinds. As the turgid clouds and atmospheric disturbances cleared away, He caused the sun, moon and stars to once again become visible from the earth's surface (verses 14-18).
Verse 16 of Genesis one does not describe the sun and moon and stars being created on the fourth day. How could light have been created on the first day, but the sun and stars which impart light not be created until the fourth day? The original Hebrew for "made" in verse 16 actually means "made to appear, made visible." The Hebrew word for “create” is bara, meaning to create, as from nothing – true creation. However, the word used in verse 16 is asah, which means to “make” or “fashion” a thing from pre-existing elements. The sun and moon were created "in the beginning. "
When we put the puzzle of Genesis 1 together, therefore, we see that verse 1 describes the original Creation; verse 2 describes the destruction which came about due to Lucifer’s rebellion; and the rest of the chapter describes the process of “re-creation” and “renewal” of life on the face of the earth.
As David wrote in Psalm 104: “You send forth Your Spirit, they are created; You RENEW the face of the earth” (verse 30, NKJV). The light mentioned in verse 3, therefore, came from the sun, but appeared as a diffuse sort of light, having to penetrate through the gloom and thick clouds of the atmosphere, to dispel the darkness on the face of the earth at that time. By the fourth day, then, the light had dispelled enough of the darkness and cloud-cover and gloom so that the very form of the sun, moon and stars could be seen from the surface of the earth. These heavenly objects had long before been created; but at this time they “reappeared” in the sky, and could be seen once more from the earth!
The evidence shows that at least two or three times the earth itself has been involved in massive orogenies and techtonic upheavals which were connected with some kind of interplanetary encounter or near-collision.
The
first one occurred during the reign of Lucifer, perhaps about seven thousand
years ago, or a thousand years before the time of man. The massive destruction at that time was due
to his failed rebellion against the Most High.
Another such encounter may have
occurred at the time of the Noachian deluge, although direct evidence is not
yet forthcoming. The next direct
encounter occurred during the period of the Exodus of the children of Israel
out of Egypt. That a huge and menacing
“comet” hovered in the sky at that time is well attested in ancient literature,
and could have been a “tool” in the hands of Almighty God to destroy Egyptian
power at that time, and to deliver His people from abject slavery.
Even more astounding, however, is
that the ancient drama of star wars still continues, and is about to be
resumed, in OUR DAY!
Speaking of the “end times,” John
records in the end-time book of Revelation, a FUTURE “STAR WAR” which will once
again involve Satan and his angels making one last attempt to seize God’s
Throne in heaven. “And WAR broke out
in heaven: Michael and his angels fought
with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, but they did not prevail
[were not strong enough], nor was a place found for them [him] in heaven any
longer. So the great dragon was cast OUT, that serpent of old, called the Devil
and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the EARTH, and his
angels were cast out with him” (Rev.12:7-9).
The ancient cosmological star
wars continues! The final chapter,
the final battle, will soon be fought IN OUR DAY! Once again the earth is going to go through a
horrifying time of destruction and upheaval, surpassing anything in its
history. Are you prepared? Are you ready? Are you putting on the “whole armor of God”
that you may be able to stand strong?