In this article, I will attempt to describe what I believe is mankind’s ongoing attempt to escape our assigned physical habitation, the earth. In my previous one, I wrote about humanity’s quest to escape the spiritual and intellectual limitations assigned to us by God in his Word, the Bible. The two are closely linked.
The Bible teaches us that Satan wished to go beyond his assigned place and role and usurp God’s throne.
But you said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God, And I will sit on the mount of assembly In the recesses of the north. 14 ‘I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.’ Isaiah 14:13–14 (NASB95)
The essence of sin lies in our refusal to accept God’s authority as the Creator to “make the rules” and assign to us our roles and limitations.
We see this being played out all around us in our culture. People are not happy with their assigned sexuality or gender. Some women despise the perceived limitations of being wives and mothers. Some men do not want to carry the weight of responsibility connected with the roles of husband and father. In both cases, sometimes people feel as if the sacrifice of freedom is too great.
Apparently Satan had a privileged status prior to his rebellion, but he wanted more. Although a created being, he considered himself to be God’s equal and had the audacity to attempt to overthrow God’s rule. The result was his defeat and ouster from heaven.
And He said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Luke 10:18 (NKJV)
Having failed, Satan did not give up. Apparently, he determined to seduce the humans God created and placed in the garden. He tempted them to join in his rebellion against God. It seems that the lure of god-like self-determination is quite strong. Adam and Eve took the bait hook, line, and sinker.
God created us to be perfectly fulfilled and satisfied dependent beings.
We were not designed or intended to go it alone. Our Lord’s desire has always been to be with us and live his life in and through us. That is the only pathway to peace and joy, but Adam and Eve threw that away for an empty promise from the tempter that they could be like God, knowing good and evil for themselves. Jesus came to restore us to the abundant life God originally intended.
The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life. John 10:10 (NLT)
Not only did God intend for Adam and Eve and their descendants to enjoy a happy and fulfilled life of partnership and dependence upon their Creator, he also provided them with the perfect environment.
The earth God created was a paradise with more than enough capacity to provide for a vast number of people. Before they rebelled against God’s rule, the earth worked with them to provide their needs. After their sin and the consequent judgment, the earth worked against them to some degree.
Then to Adam He said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree about which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat from it’; Cursed is the ground because of you; In toil you will eat of it All the days of your life. 18 “Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you; And you will eat the plants of the field; 19 By the sweat of your face You will eat bread, Till you return to the ground, Because from it you were taken; For you are dust, And to dust you shall return.” Genesis 3:17–19 (NASB95)
Now it is more difficult to extract the blessings from the ground, but not impossible. God’s command to be fruitful and multiply still stands. God still wants the earth to be full of people, something the devil works hard to prevent.
Satan, the father of lies, consistently lies to us about God and the earth.
He works hard to get us to believe and accept his version of reality in place of God’s truth. The earth God created is huge with plentiful resources. The Bible says that it is safely enclosed and protected in a solid firmament. This crystalline structure separates us from the third heaven where God’s throne is located.
Our assigned abode is on the earth below the firmament.
God reserved heaven for himself, his angels, and all who put their faith and allegiance in his Son, our Lord Jesus the Messiah.
After Adam’s and Eve’s rebellion and expulsion from the garden, almost from the beginning, their descendants, like Satan, were not content to remain in our assigned place.
The Bible records that residents of Mesopotamia constructed a giant tower whose purpose was to reach into heaven.
They said, “Come, let us build for ourselves a city, and a tower whose top will reach into heaven, and let us make for ourselves a name, otherwise we will be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.” Genesis 11:4 (NASB95)
Tradition has it that Nimrod wanted to penetrate the barrier of the firmament in order to kill God with his bow and arrows. Regardless of whether there is any truth in that, God took note of this attempt to escape our assigned domain and frustrated their efforts. By dividing them into many different language groups, God slowed down mankind’s technological development. But the drive to test the limits of our habitation and escape its confines persists.
The quest to breach the firmament was delayed but not stopped.
Now I ask you to permit me space to conjecture a bit, with the full understanding that I am making what I consider to be an educated guess. When our own government blocks access to crucial information and propagates what is false, we are left trying to piece together the resulting puzzle. Thankfully, the Bible gives us much solid information.
The Bible tells us that the solid firmament rises from the earth where it is securely anchored. I wrote more about this in previous articles in this series. A 1958 version of The Encyclopedia Americana reported the presence of a dome. This was prior to the Antarctic Treaty and before censorship regarding that area of the world. We are “fenced in” by this structure. At this point, the general public does not know where the firmament connects to the earth, since that area of the world is now “off limits,” but quite possibly Admiral Richard E. Byrd found it, having made several expeditions to that region before and after WWII (1928-30, 1933-34, 1939-40, 1946-47, and 1955-56). He gave a televised interview in which he made some remarkable claims.
During and after Byrd completed his assignments there, several very interesting things took place.
- The United Nations was created in 1945.
- Walt Disney, who majored in fantasy, and Werner Von Braun partnered to produce a documentary on outer space travel in 1955.
- NASA was formed in 1958. Werner Von Braun, a former Nazi, brought to the US under the auspices of Operation Paperclip, was put in charge of our space program, or at least became one of its major spokesmen.
- The Antarctic Treaty was signed, cordoning off the area beyond the South 60th parallel, December 1, 1959. The signing nations were each assigned a segment to guard and protect against independent exploration. Interestingly, despite all our international conflicts since then, no one has violated this treaty? Why?
- Operation Fishbowl was part of a series of high altitude nuclear explosions conducted by the US and Russia. Operation Starfish exploded a 1.4 megaton bomb in 1962 at a reported altitude of 400 kilometers or 240 miles.
If I am correct in speculating that Byrd and his associates discovered the wall of the firmament, then the formation of NASA and subsequent rocket launches were part of a plan to probe and perhaps penetrate the firmament. Operation Fishbowl likely was designed to test the strength and nature of the firmament. Numerous videos of rocket launches show them apparently skimming through water and sometimes coming apart at very high altitudes. Many of NASA’s launches take an arc that would dump them into the Bermuda Triangle.
If the firmament is what the Bible says, outer space is a fantasy. The firmament cannot be penetrated, and pretty much everything NASA produces is part of a Disney-like magical kingdom.
It is apparent to many that NASA exists to maintain the illusion that we live on a globe while making ongoing efforts to break through the firmament.
Whatever is the actual case, no one will deny that many people are genuinely obsessed with space travel and the idea of leaving the earth and exploring, and maybe even establishing colonies, beyond the earth. Hollywood, which is known to hide the truth in plain sight, has given us many clues regarding the firmament and humanity’s inborn desire to escape our assigned habitation. Here are a few examples.
- The Truman Show
- Under the Dome
- The Simpsons
- Fortnite Video Game
The Matrix movie describes a world where humans are enslaved by convincing them that the lie, with which they are all brainwashed, is actually reality. Wanting to escape the lie, is very different from trying to deny the truth and pursue the lie. Neo was encouraged to take the “red pill” that would open his eyes to the truth, which he did, embarking him on a dangerous adventure toward freedom.
Sinful rebellious humankind wants to escape the limitations of our God-imposed habitation. The controllers, those in power who are serving Satan, hide the true nature of our world from its inhabitants in order to enslave us under false pretenses. They tell us that the world we live in is more or less doomed and that we need to find somewhere else. All the while they hide how amazing and plentiful is God’s provision.
Almost everything about our world as presented by our government is contrary to the truth.
Consider the following.
- We are told that we live on a “fragile” planet. We are in danger from climate change, asteroids, disease, aliens, and over crowding.
- Resources are limited and running out.
- Our population needs to be reduced, resources rationed, and energy conserved.
But what does God say?
- We live on a firmly secured earth enclosed by a solid firmament. Climate change, aliens, and asteroids are not real. Demons, yes, but not aliens.
- God created the earth with more than enough resources to support a massive population. Otherwise, God would not have commanded us to fill the earth.
- God said to be fruitful and multiply. Efforts to reduce the population through wars, starvation, abortion, vaccines, etc., like everything else Satan suggests, are in direct violation of God’s commands.
Jesus was not joking when he said the devil came to kill, steal, and destroy.
If we would accept that the earth God created is a perfectly designed habitation and seek to bring it more and more in line with God’s original intention under his rule, we would see our lives prosper in a greater way. Instead, inspired by Satan and our own rebelliousness, we refuse to tell the truth, listen to the truth, or accept our God-imposed limitations. Instead, we try to escape, not realizing that all the while Satan is working his plan to subjugate and enslave the inhabitants of the earth. Thankfully, we know from the Bible that God wins! Eventually he will create a new heaven and earth in which only righteousness exists. Hallelujah!
