“And marvel not; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light” (2 Corinthians 11:15).
While reflecting on Bible prophecy and foretold things that will soon happen, there have been a few theories on how the sudden vanishing of a multitude of Christians via the Rapture of the Church will be explained away. The one that seems to be gaining the most traction recently is that UFOs will somehow be involved in taking out the “undesirables” from off the planet so that the rest of humanity can carry on in harmony without being impeded by the obvious bad effects of “Bible-thumping” Christians. But another theory may instead be implemented by the enemy to delude the inhabitants of Earth.
There is no doubt that, in recent years, the talk of the existence of and the supposed sightings of extra-terrestrial craft has been in the news. The acceptance of such a notion that they are out there has been increasing through reports from a variety of different sources, including government officials, the military, airline pilots, and some astronomers.
I had heard a few episodes of the old “Coast to Coast” radio program with Art Bell while flying out of New Mexico a few years back and was always tickled by the reports from people calling in, talking about their encounters, abductions, and probings from the aliens. I guess life out in outer space can be boring at times and needs to be spiced up with probing.
Even the current pope has gotten in on the act by stating that he would not be averse to baptizing the aliens if they did indeed decide to visit our planet. It is hard to imagine, though, that they would just traverse the galaxies for a Catholic baptism instead of just requesting to be taken to our leader. Hopefully, the sprinkling of water on their foreheads will not have the same effect as listening to some Slim Whitman music!
There could possibly be a more plausible tactic employed by Satan to trick the world into answering the question of “What happened to them? Where did they go?” immediately after the sudden disappearance of Christ’s saints. And a deception that he has already been using quite effectively throughout the globe for decades, maybe even centuries.
The expression that Satan can appear as an angel of light could have a couple of meanings. It could be applied in the figurative sense in that it would be far more advantageous for him to carry on his diabolical deeds while cloaking himself as a source of light or good to optimize his devilish agenda of deception versus being a dark, sinister force continually using heavy-handed methods to exact a greater number of lost souls to his tally.
Religion is a prime example of masquerading himself as a false minister of light. How many billions around the world are entrapped in a false plan of salvation by the phony theologies that he has created?
To the people that are involved in a religious “-ism” – Shintoism, Buddhism, Islam, Hinduism, Confucianism, Mormonism, Roman Catholicism – their particular religion is something positive and not emanating from a dark source. The founder of that religion must have meant it for good. They think that they are on the correct path to paradise when, in reality, they are on the path to destruction – just as the devil intended.
Transforming himself into an angel of light could also take on a literal manifestation. “Marian apparitions” could be such a component of his deceptive capabilities.
How many Roman Catholics and others have been duped by the appearances of “Our Lady” or the “Lady of Light” or the myriads of other titles that have been bestowed upon these visions of a supposedly heavenly woman? Is this phenomenon for real or just a clever ruse meant to deceive?
People all over the world flock to where this trickery has occurred. It is all deception, as Jesus has NEVER promised to send visions of His earthly mother to speak to man. The Holy Spirit’s role as Comforter, Counselor, Helper, and Guide is more than sufficient to spiritually speak to us and continually point us to Jesus Christ alone for salvation. Another being – especially a human one – is not needed and could never fill in for or replace God.
Marian apparitions, then, are not from God but are satanic manipulations designed to delude those who are not acquainted with the Holy Spirit-inspired Scripture.
Only a fallen angelic being, though, like Lucifer, would conjure up a supposed image of someone that is very prominent in the Roman Catholic religion to deceive the lost and to keep them from worshipping God correctly. This is but another way for him to place someone instead of God before their eyes to adore, venerate, worship, and trust in – breaking the very first commandments of God:
“Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me“ (Exodus 20:3-5).
In God’s eyes, Roman Catholicism has created a god out of Mary. She is by far the most prominent being in that false religion. Rome, of course, denies this, but their actions prove otherwise. The first two commandments listed above are continually defied by the RCC.
Satan knows this activity infuriates the Creator, so he keeps Catholics repeating it via prayers to her and having them pray before graven images or statues. Marian apparitions and the worship of these visions only keep this sort of idolatry paramount in the pope’s religion. It is all detested by God, and He equates this sort of worship as hating Him.
Back when I was still a Catholic, I visited the town of Knock in Ireland, where a supposed apparition had occurred and where thousands visit each year on their pilgrimages. I also visited Fatima while on a four-day tour of Portugal.
Who has not heard of “Our Lady of Fatima”? I had seen the movie of this appearance a couple of times and was enthralled with the story as a kid. Like other Catholics, I believed in these visions as being the actual “Mother of God.”
It was a real eye-opener, though, to visit the shrine in Fatima. Daily, there are women who visit the shrine and then proceed to encircle the building dedicated to “Our Lady” on their bloodied knees, all in devotion to her or this “angel of light” that appeared there. Even then, as a Catholic, it was incredible to witness such a sight. Most of these people have never seen the vision themselves but go along with the ruse and become pilgrims to go there.
There are hundreds of these places throughout the world. Hundreds of thousands, maybe millions of people, have visited these sighting venues and believe in the validity of the real Mary coming to visit these sites.
The world has been set up to accept such appearances as being authentic and to trust in the words spoken to them by this vision. They have no clue that it is the devil appearing to them as an “angel of light.” Anything that he would tell them as “Mary” would be believed.
The hook was set long ago, and a worldwide deception could be easily swallowed by the deluded masses post-Rapture.
To repeat, Scripture says nothing of the biblical Mary having the power or ability to descend from Heaven or to show herself to a select few at these sites. There would be no need for her to have to do that. But Satan is aware of the power behind these false appearances.
The Bible is replete with verses on how to be saved, that simple faith in Jesus Christ is all that we need for redemption, that the Holy Spirit indwells all true believers, and that we only look to Jesus as our Savior and Redeemer, and not to others – including Mary.
These sightings of “Mary” usually have her telling those at these places that it is through prayers to her or her “Immaculate Heart” or praying the Rosary or some other activity directed to her or through her that will affect souls getting saved, freed from Purgatory, or some other nonsense that is not biblical. It is all a ruse, all a spiritual charade.
To the unknowing, it all sounds legitimate. To those who read the Bible, it all sounds phony. It all sounds deceptive. It all sounds devilish. It all sounds like a trap from an angel of darkness, not of light.
Another way in which this false “angel of light” could deceive those on Earth after Christ comes for His true Church would be in mimicking a real messenger of God who will fly through the heavens, presenting the gospel to the Earth dwellers during the Tribulation. We read about this in Revelation 14:6-7:
“And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.”
This is what a true angel of God will declare. Satan knows this. He is aware of what is in the Bible – he has had a long time to be proficient in its teachings. He could very easily have one of his own demonic angels pretend to give a heavenly message, but instead, it would emanate from Hell. He is all about deceiving and lying, and this could be another useful tactic that he could use to great effect to carry out his worldwide agenda of deceit.
A false “angel of light” could point to itself or to the pretend “Our Lady” to beguile all listening or viewing.
Is it beyond the realm of possibility that one or a series of these false sightings could be used to explain away what happened to the missing Christians?
It would also be very effective to point the masses to the antichrist as the one who will solve the world’s problems and for all to get on board with his Luciferian program.
Since mankind is already somewhat accustomed to the reports of these apparitions, it would seem that they would be more easily believed than a story of UFOs secretly transporting the missing masses from off the planet.
Why would aliens want to remove only Christians anyway? What’s in it for them? How would they know who to take? The UFO theory seems to open up a huge can of worms.
The devil showing up as “Mary” in one or many locations throughout the globe would be a better fit for how Satan would want to deceive after the Rapture. Since the false Mary is so prevalent in Roman Catholic teachings and practices, it could be a pope that the world would gravitate toward when wanting to find out what happened moments after the Rapture. Why go to a secular leader or agency when one who is supposedly Christ on Earth and supposedly connected with God should have all the answers?
The apparitions could propel and point to, at the same time, a false one-world religion, a false holy father, and a false vision of Mary. It could jumpstart the antichrist’s legitimacy as a false Christ figure. It has all the components needed to bewitch the entire planet.
Throw in some “strong delusion” that will occur as a result of people rejecting Jesus Christ as their Savior – as the Bible warns will happen – and you have a ready-made recipe for how to explain away where the missing went. Who would doubt such a scenario?
How would UFOs accomplish any of the above? The UFO theory could just be a sleight of hand on the devil’s part. Scan the sky for some alien craft to be flying off, but in the meantime, how about a visit from Heaven by someone you can trust? She’ll explain everything. Just pay attention to “her” words. She has been so believable in the past. You know that you can trust her!
“And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders“ (2 Thessalonians 2:8-9).