…Satan…uses all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs, spurious wonders, and every form of evil deception in order to deceive those who are perishing because they rejected the love of the truth that would lead them to being saved. Because of this, God sends them a powerful delusion that leads them to believe what is false. So then all who found their pleasure in unrighteousness and did not believe the truth will be judged. – 2 Thessalonians 2:9b-12, TPT

THE POWERFUL DELUSION

Many followers of Christ believe that the powerful or strong delusion apostle Paul writes about in 2 Thessalonians 2:11 is the ungodly belief that the sudden disappearances of countless saints will not be because their disappearances were the fulfillment of the prophesied Rapture of the Bride (Body of Christ) but rather the saints’ disappearances will be because they were abducted by aliens. That’s right! An unbelievable number of left behinders will find it easier to buy into the lie that the followers of Christ were beamed up into UFOs than it is for them to believe these saints were truly caught up to meet the Lord in the air (1 Corinthians 15:52, 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17).

Additionally, this alien abduction belief has been a powerful/strong delusion for centuries. Indeed, many who believe there are aliens “out there” are considered to be members of a UFO religion – “any religion in which the existence of extraterrestrial (ET) entities operating unidentified flying objects (UFOs) is an element of [people’s] belief.” Moreover, several “adherents believe that the arrival or rediscovery of alien civilizations, technologies and spirituality will enable humans to overcome current ecological, spiritual and social problems. Issues such as hatred, war, bigotry, poverty and so on are said to be resolvable through the use of superior alien technology and spiritual abilities. Such belief systems are also described as millenarian in their outlook.”

A powerful delusion, indeed! Moreover, it appears that God will strengthen the left behinders’ ungodly beliefs and trust in aliens and alien abductions. The Holy Bible indisputably describes horrific fifth and sixth trumpet events in Revelation that obviously happen during the Tribulation Period. Please keep in mind that the Book of Revelation is definitely not written in chronological order.

To some biblical end-times prophecy interpreters, there are two separate invasions. These same biblical end-times prophecy interpreters say that the first invasion involves the LOCUSTS that come out of the pit of Hell, and these same biblical end-times prophecy interpreters say the second invasion involves the HORSES and their RIDERS that appear near the Euphrates River.

Undeniably, it is in Revelation chapter 9 that John describes God’s Divine Judgments that look somewhat like scenes from science fictions’ alien invasion movies. The Divine Judgments that are associated with the fifth and sixth trumpets are explained as follows: 1. an opening that exposes a long vertical passage that sinks into the earth and leads to the bottomless pit (abyss or pit of Hell) out of which comes smoke and LOCUSTS (vv. 1-10); 2. a release of demonic invaders against the earth and its inhabitants who are to the East of the Euphrates River (vv. 13-19). In the sited verses, John gives a detailed – and frightening – description of these demonic invaders.

Unlike said biblical end-times prophecy interpreters, I don’t believe that the LOCUSTS and the HORSES and their RIDERS are two separate armies that face each other. I believe there is only one demonic invasion and that it is in two phases. I also believe the demonic forces of LOCUSTS and the HORSES and their RIDERS are the bulk of the third of angels that fell with Satan. Satan, thus, is another name for the leader of the LOCUSTS, whom John calls, in Hebrew, Abaddon, which means “destruction”; and who is, in Greek, called Apollyon, which means “destroyer-king” (Revelation 9:11). The reference to the bottomless pit is futuristic in nature, because in Revelation 20:1 John tells us that Satan will be chained in the bottomless pit. This chaining happens after the Tribulation Period but before Christ begins His millennial reign. After 1,000 years of Christ Jesus’ peaceful reign, Satan is released for a short time (Revelation 20:7), and then he is thrown in the Lake of Fire where the Beast or Antichrist and his False Prophet were thrown at the end of the Tribulation Period (Revelation 20:10).

That said, looking again at the HORSES and their RIDERS that John describes, it is evident to me that they symbolize an incalculable portion of the FALLEN ANGELS Satan had assigned to the revived Islamic/Ottoman Empire’s region located to the East of Israel. Moreover, biblically speaking, the Euphrates River – which always has been connected to Babylon – is the farthest eastern physical and spiritual boundary of the land God promised to Israel. Therefore, the four released FALLEN ANGELS that were previously chained in the Euphrates River, no doubt, will divide this his huge demonic army into four parts, and each one of these four released FALLEN ANGELS will lead its portion of demons as they kill a third of humanity, from the four corners of the world, via breathing out three plagues/weapons (fire, smoke, sulfur).

At one time, Satan (Abaddon or Apollyon) also ruled over these four FALLEN ANGELS, whose evildoings aren’t related to the FALLEN ANGELS who slept with the daughters of Adam; yet, their deeds were evil enough that these four FALLEN ANGELS were BOUND until it was time to release them during the Tribulation Period. However, it is important to also note here that by the time the sixth trumpet blows, the Antichrist will have become Satan incarnate. Perhaps this is the reason why God releases the four FALLEN ANGELS. They help the satanic Antichrist destroy as many lives as he can so that Christ Jesus cannot claim them.

Now, according to John, the demonic LOCUSTS have “…the appearance of horses equipped for battle. On their heads were what seemed like golden crowns. And their faces were like human faces. 8 Their hair was long, like women’s hair, and their teeth like lion’s teeth. 9 They wore breastplates that seemed like iron, and their wings made a sound like the noise of horses and chariots rushing into battle. 10 They had tails and stingers like scorpions, with power to injure people for five months.” –  Revelation 9:7-10, TPT (fifth trumpet)

Additionally, John describes the demonic HORSES and their RIDERS that come from the East as “…twice ten thousand times ten thousand…horses with riders wearing breastplates of fire and of sapphire and of sulfur. The horses had lions’ heads breathing out fire and smoke and sulfur. 18 They killed a third of humanity by these three plagues—the fire, the smoke, and the sulfur that came from their mouths. 19 For the lethal power of the horses was in their mouths and their tails, and their tails had snakes’ heads that inflict injuries.” – Revelation 9:16-19, TPT (sixth trumpet)

As I said earlier, in Revelation chapter 9, John is describing God’s Tribulation Wrath or Divine Judgments. Clearly, John’s LOCUSTS and the HORSES and their RIDERS’ descriptions come close to the descriptions of some of the aliens that are in many sci-fi alien invasion movies. However, God’s Divine Judgments are not carried out by aliens. In Revelation chapter 9, His Wrath is carried out by FALLEN ANGELS!

THE FALLEN ANGELS

The FALLEN ANGELS are those angels who followed Lucifer in the Great Rebellion in Heaven. Not only did their consciousness fall to lower levels of awareness but also Archangel Michael and his legions of good angels cast these rebellious angels down to earth.

The FALLEN ANGELS are known by many names. Most of those names are as follows: the fallen ones, Luciferians, Watchers, Nephilim, giants in the earth, Satanists, Serpents, sons of Belial, etc. In the Book of Enoch chapters 6–10, the Book of Jubilees chapter 5, and the Dead Sea Scrolls (The Book of Giants), the FALLEN ANGELS left their heavenly estate to have sexual relations with the daughters of Adam.

In Noah’s day, God put the evilest of FALLEN ANGELS who created offspring with the daughters of Adam in chains and BOUND them in Tartarus (the deepest pit of gloom), where they had to wait for their final judgment. In the Holy Bible, specifically 2 Peter 2:4, the Greek term Tartarusis used to describe this deepest pit of gloom. Tartarus is a Hellenistic mythical term for the subterranean underworld, the lowest pit of Hell.   

Now, in Hebraic legends/traditions, the evilest demon or evil spirit to whom, in the ancient rite of Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement), a scapegoat was sent bearing the sins of the Hebrews, was called Azazel (see Leviticus 16:8-10). The Book of Leviticus also reveals that Azazel is the legendary seed of the Serpent, which is why Azazel’s role in the Yom Kippur ceremony identifies him as the Messiah’s rival. 

In the Holy Bible, God cursed the Serpent so that its seed would bruise the heel of Eve’s promised seed (Messiah). In the end-times, Eve’s seed, in turn, would crush the head of the Serpent’s child and destroy His seed who, according to Kabbalistic literature, is also Lilith’s child, Azazel.  In Hebraic traditions, Azazel is presented as the one that plays the foil in the Yom Kippur ceremony – the second goat (the scapegoat).   

Also according to Kabbalistic literature, in particular, The Zohar, Lilith is an evil, immoral, demonic figure working with Satan – often described as Satan’s wife. Lilith also is described as the first female who existed before Eve (see Genesis 1:27; initially, male and female were created at the same time). Now, Lilith was supposedly Adam’s first wife who had a fallen out with Adam and subsequently, after she allegedly spoke the secret name of God, she vanished from the Garden of Eden. After that, Kabbalists say God then created Eve.

What most Holy Bible readers either miss or have never heard of is that Azazel was no ordinary Nephilim.  Once again, Azazel was the offspring of Lilith who mated with Semjaza, the leader of the Watchers (FALLEN ANGELS). Therefore, Azazel was less human than all the other Nephilim, and the most powerful. He was even more powerful than his father, Semjaza. 

The prophet Isaiah expounds further upon the Genesis prophecy about Eve’s seed crushing the head of the Serpent’s child and destroying His seed. Isaiah 34:14 conveys that in the end time, the slaying of the Serpent’s seed on Yom Kippur would result in the spirit of Lilith being cast into the desert or wilderness of Edom. In other words, it is God’s curse upon the Serpent and its seed (Lilith’s son, Azazel) that becomes the basis of the symbolisms in the Yom Kippur ceremony in Leviticus 16 – a ceremony that actually foretells God’s final judgment of mankind.

Moreover, it is possible that the evil spirit Lilith is connected to Revelation’s Great Whore of Babylon. In the Book of Zohar, there is a  “woman of whoredom,” who is called Isheth Zenunim (1:5a, 1:5b). Isheth Zenuim also is known as the evil demon called Lilith who also is known in Hebraic legends as the “screech owl,” and who is described in Isaiah 34:14 as living “in the wilderness.” This well-favored harlot known as Lilith or Lilitu, in Kabbalists’ legends, is the one who returned to Eden disguised as the Serpent who tempted Eve with the Fruit of the Tree of Knowledge. Her whorish relationship to the nations – as the one who sells nations through her whoredoms and families through her witchcraft – is found in Nahum 3:1-4. This evil spirit that is being described as a woman in the wilderness (desert) who is drunk from the blood of those who fell prey to her lies and sorceries (those who were slain) is very similar to the female end-time spirit John describes in Revelation 18:1-6. Selah . . . pause and calmly think about that.

FIRST BOOK OF ENOCH

¹ And it came to pass when the children of men had multiplied that in those days were born unto ² them beautiful and comely daughters. And the angels, the children of the heaven, saw and lusted after them, and said to one another: ‘Come, let us choose us wives from among the children of men ³ and beget us children.’ And Semjaza, who was their leader, said unto them: ‘I fear ye will not ⁴ indeed agree to do this deed, and I alone shall have to pay the penalty of a great sin.’ And they all answered him and said: ‘Let us all swear an oath, and all bind ourselves by mutual imprecations ⁵ not to abandon this plan but to do this thing.’ Then sware they all together and bound themselves ⁶ by mutual imprecations upon it. And they were in all two hundred; who descended in the days of Jared on the summit of Mount Hermon, and they called it Mount Hermon, because they had sworn ⁷ and bound themselves by mutual imprecations upon it. And these are the names of their leaders: Samjazaz, their leader, Araklba, Rameel, Kokablel, Tamlel, Ramlel, Danel, Ezeqeel, Baraqijal, ⁸ Asael, Armaros, Batarel, Ananel, Zaqiel, Samsapeel, Satarel, Turel, Jomjael, Sariel. These are their chiefs of tens. – 1 Enoch 6

…And they have gone to the daughters of men upon the earth, and have slept with the ⁹ women, and have defiled themselves, and revealed to them all kinds of sins. And the women have ¹⁰ borne giants, and the whole earth has thereby been filled with blood and unrighteousness. And now, behold, the souls of those who have died are crying and making their suit to the gates of heaven, and their lamentations have ascended: and cannot cease because of the lawless deeds which are ¹¹ wrought on the earth. And Thou knowest all things before they come to pass, and Thou seest these things and Thou dost suffer them, and Thou dost not say to us what we are to do to them in regard to these.’ – 1 Enoch 9:8b-11

¹ Then said the Most High, the Holy and Great One spake, and sent Uriel to the son of Lamech, ² and said to him: ‘Go to Noah and tell him in my name “Hide thyself!” and reveal to him the end that is approaching: that the whole earth will be destroyed, and a deluge is about to come ³ upon the whole earth, and will destroy all that is on it. And now instruct him that he may escape ⁴ and his seed may be preserved for all the generations of the world.’ And again the Lord said to Raphael: ‘Bind Azazel hand and foot, and cast him into the darkness: and make an opening ⁵ in the desert, which is in Dudael, and cast him therein. And place upon him rough and jagged rocks, and cover him with darkness, and let him abide there for ever, and cover his face that he may ^6,7 not see light. And on the day of the great judgement he shall be cast into the fire. And heal the earth which the angels have corrupted, and proclaim the healing of the earth, that they may heal the plague, and that all the children of men may not perish through all the secret things that the ⁸ Watchers have disclosed and have taught their sons. And the whole earth has been corrupted ⁹ through the works that were taught by Azazel: to him ascribe all sin.’ … – 1 Enoch 10:1-9a

BIBLE VERSES ABOUT FALLEN ANGELS AND THEIR OFFSPRING

⁴ The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men, and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown.  – Genesis 6:4, NASB

⁸ Then Aharon is to cast lots for the two goats, one lot for Adonai and the other for ‘Az’azel. ⁹ Aharon is to present the goat whose lot fell to Adonai and offer it as a sin offering. ¹⁰ But the goat whose lot fell to ‘Az’azel is to be presented alive to Adonai to be used for making atonement over it by sending it away into the desert for ‘Az’azel. – Leviticus 16:8-10, CJB

⁸ And Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goats: one lot for Jehovah, and the other lot for Azazel.

⁹ And Aaron shall present the goat upon which the lot fell for Jehovah, and offer it [as] a sin-offering.

¹⁰ And the goat upon which the lot fell for Azazel shall be set alive before Jehovah, to make atonement with it, to send it away as Azazel into the wilderness. – Leviticus 16:8-10, DARBY

 ⁸ And Aaron shall cast lots over the two goats, one lot for the Lord and the other lot for Azazel. ⁹ And Aaron shall present the goat on which the lot fell for the Lord and use it as a sin offering, ¹⁰ but the goat on which the lot fell for Azazel shall be presented alive before the Lord to make atonement over it, that it may be sent away into the wilderness to Azazel. – Leviticus 16:8-10, ESV

The creatures of the desert will encounter jackals
And the hairy goat will call to its kind;
Indeed, Lilith (night demon) will settle there
And find herself a place of rest. – Isaiah 34:14, AMP

Wildcats and hyenas will meet there;
and billy-goats call to each other;
Lilit [the night monster] will lurk there
and find herself a place to rest.  – Isaiah 34:14, CJB

¹⁴ And there shall the beasts of the desert meet with the jackals, and the wild goat shall cry to his fellow; the lilith also shall settle there, and find for herself a place of rest. – Isaiah 34:14, DARBY

⁴ Now, don’t forget, God had no pity for the angels when they sinned but threw them into the lowest, darkest dungeon of gloom and locked them in chains, where they are firmly held until the judgment of torment. – 2 Peter 2:4, TPT

⁶ In the same way, there were heavenly messengers in rebellion who went outside their rightful domain of authority and abandoned their appointed realms. God bound them in everlasting chains and is keeping them in the dark abyss of the netherworld until the judgment of the great day.

⁷ In a similar way, the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah and nearby towns gave themselves to sexual immorality and the unnatural desire of different flesh. Now they all serve as examples of those who experience the punishment of eternal fire. – Jude vv. 6-7, TPT

Then the fifth angel sounded his trumpet, and I saw a star that fell from heaven to earth, and he was handed the key to the shaft leading down to the pit of the deep. ² He opened the shaft of the bottomless pit and a blanket of smoke began to rise out of it, like the smoke of a giant furnace. The sun and the atmosphere were darkened with the smoke rising from the shaft.

³ And out of smoke appeared locusts swarming onto the earth, and they were given authority like that of scorpions to inflict pain. ⁴ They were told not to harm the grass, or any green growth or any tree, but only to afflict those who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads. ⁵ The locusts were given authority to torment them for five months, but not to kill them. Their painful torment is like the scorpion’s sting, ⁶ and during that time people will seek death but will not find it; they will long to die but death will elude them.

⁷ The locusts had the appearance of horses equipped for battle. On their heads were what seemed like golden crowns. And their faces were like human faces. ⁸ Their hair was long, like women’s hair, and their teeth like lion’s teeth. ⁹ They wore breastplates that seemed like iron, and their wings made a sound like the noise of horses and chariots rushing into battle. ¹⁰ They had tails and stingers like scorpions, with power to injure people for five months. ¹¹ The angel of the bottomless pit was king over them, and his name in Hebrew is Destruction and in Greek Destroyer. – Revelation 9:1-11, TPT

¹³ Then the sixth angel sounded his trumpet, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar before God, ¹⁴ responding to the sixth angel, who blew his trumpet, “Set free the four angels who are confined at the great river Euphrates.”

¹⁵ So the four angels were released, who had been prepared for the right hour, day, month, and year, to kill a third of humanity.

¹⁶ I heard the number of soldiers on horseback—it was twice ten thousand times ten thousand. ¹⁷ And in my vision I saw the horses with riders wearing breastplates of fire and of sapphire^[m] and of sulfur. The horses had lions’ heads breathing out fire and smoke and sulfur. ¹⁸ They killed a third of humanity by these three plagues—the fire, the smoke, and the sulfur that came from their mouths. ¹⁹ For the lethal power of the horses was in their mouths and their tails, and their tails had snakes’ heads that inflict injuries.

²⁰ Those not killed by these plagues did not repent of their deeds so that they would stop worshiping demons and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone, and wood—blind and mute idols that have to be carried around. ²¹ And they did not repent of their murders or their sorceriesor their thefts or their immorality. – Revelation 9:12-21, TPT

The Dragon Defeated

⁷ Then a terrible war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the great dragon. The dragon and his angels fought back. ⁸ But the dragon did not have the power to win and they could not regain their place in heaven. ⁹ So the great dragon was thrown down once and for all. He was the serpent, the ancient snake called the devil, and Satan, who deceives the whole earth. He was cast down into the earth and his angels along with him. – Revelation 12:7-9, TPT

Binding Satan

Then I saw a mighty angel descending from the heavenly realm, holding a heavy chain and a key—the key of the deep. ² He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent known as the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. ³ The mighty angel threw him into the pit, locked it, and sealed it so that he could no longer deceive the nations until the thousand years were over. (After that he must be loosed for a brief time.) – Revelation 20:1-3, TPT

CONCLUSION

From all the above-listed Book of Enoch and Holy Bible verses, it should be clear that God’s powerful delusion will be something that supports so many people’s current beliefs in aliens and alien abductions. Apparently, God will strengthen their ungodly beliefs with His alien-like Divine Judgments (His Wrath) – the LOCUSTS and the HORSES and their RIDERS – that He pours out on the earth during the Tribulation Period. A word to the wise should be sufficient.

THE PASSION TRANSLATION (TPT) Notes:

“Revelation 9:1  [the pit of the deep] Or “the well of the abyss.” This is the same Greek word found throughout the Septuagint for “the deep.” …Jesus is the one who holds the keys of death and Hades (Rev. 1:18), for he unlocked both and walked out triumphantly in resurrection power. Many things are opened in Revelation (heaven, doors, books) with the purpose of releasing a new understanding or revelation. There is a deep place in the human heart, like a pit, that Jesus opens so that we can see what has been there inside us.

Revelation 9:3  Locusts emerged from the smoke. The smoke of the abyss is a picture of deception. The lies of the enemy are a “smoke screen.” The locusts are a picture of the words, actions, and lies of the religious system that dominates and intimidates others (Nah. 3:17). It causes others to feel inferior, like “grasshoppers” (or “locusts”)….

Revelation 9:4 The forehead is a metaphor for our thoughts, our minds. We must have the seal of sonship on our thoughts, the seal of God as our Father, or we will be tormented in our minds over our true identity in Christ.

Revelation 9:5  The Greek word used for “torment” (basanizo) is derived from the word touchstone, or “to examine and test” (the purity of gold and silver). Our thoughts must be examined and made pure in the truth of our sonship and identity before God, which gives us power over the “locusts” that sting like scorpions (demonic power).

Revelation 9:6   As believers, we don’t seek to die, for we have already been crucified with Christ (Gal. 2:20). This is difficult to interpret literally. How strange it would be if those with mangled bodies still lived after trying to kill themselves. This is a picture of believers who try to put themselves to death, not recognizing that God has done so already through our co-crucifixion with Christ. Many today still suffer the sting of a scorpion (erroneous concepts of God and tormenting thoughts of self-hatred) until they see the glory of Christ’s empty tomb and the resurrection life that is available to us.

Revelation 9:7   These are not literal horses wearing literal crowns. The words like, as, and appearing as are found nine times in the Greek text in vv. 7-8. They come appearing as battle horses to intimidate with counterfeit crowns, looking like they are on a mission from God, but they are not genuine. They have what appears to be human faces, pointing to the fact that they are false teachers and false apostles with their fake crowns of gold. With hair like that of women and teeth like those of a lion, they will seduce and tear apart those who come into their religious bondage.

Revelation 9:10  See Isa. 9:14-15. The tail is a symbol of false teaching, the lies of the enemy.

Revelation 9:10   The life span of a locust in the region of Israel is about five months. And there are five months from the last day of Passover to the first day of the Feast of Tabernacles. Noah’s ark floated upon the floodwaters for five months.

Revelation 9:11  Or “Abaddon,” which means “destruction.”

Revelation 9:11  Or “Apollyon,” which means “destroyer.” The Aramaic has “in Hebrew, ‘Servant,’ and in Aramaic, ‘Prince.’” The devil holds no keys, for Christ has destroyed the works of the devil and holds the keys of every realm, including death and hell. Christ is the “angel” referred to in this passage. . . .

Revelation 9:14  “The great river Euphrates” is referred to over and over in Scripture as the boundary of Israel’s inheritance (Gen. 15:18; Josh. 1:4; 1 Kings 4:21). It becomes a symbol for us of the boundary of our spiritual inheritance, that which separates our “promised land” and religious “Babylon.” Many believers are “bound” at the boundary and living in less than what they are called to, but they will be loosed in the last days to enter their full inheritance (Eph. 1:10-11).

Revelation 9:16   [twice ten thousand times ten thousand] Or “two myriads of myriads,” a symbolic number, an incalculable number of enormous proportions. The Aramaic and some Greek manuscripts have “twice ten thousand” or “twenty thousand.” It is clear by reading vv. 14-16 that the four messengers become the myriad of horsemen. They are the overcoming ones who are ready to wage war for the Lamb. The locust army and the army of horsemen are two armies facing each other and both are prepared for battle. See Joel 1:4; 2:1-3, 11.

Revelation 9:17 [sapphire] Or “hyacinth.”

Revelation 9:17  The Greek word for “sulfur,” theiōdēs, comes from the word theios, which means “divine in character” or “godlike.” The verb form of this word is theioo and means “to hallow,” “to make divine,” or “to dedicate to a god.”

Revelation 9:18  That is, their burning words carried great power and authority. 

Revelation 9:20  [have to be carried around] Or “cannot walk about.”

Revelation 9:21  The Greek word pharmakeia implies drug usage.”

– the above notes are from The Passion Translation®. Copyright © 2017 by BroadStreet Publishing® Group, LLC.