Phrases Analyzed - Glory of the Lord

Keywords: UFO, unidentified flying objects, Bible, flying saucers, prophecy, Paleo-SETI, ancient astronauts, Erich von Däniken, Josef F. Blumrich, Zecharia Sitchin, Ezekiel, biblical prophecy, spacecraft, spaceship, NASA, Roswell, aircraft, propellant, extraterrestrial hypothesis, Jacques Vallee, interdimensional hypothesis, Project Blue Book, Condon Report, ancient history, Jesus, Judaism, Christianity, Middle East, end times, engines, rockets, helicopters, space travel, aliens, abductions, alien abductions, crop circles, extraterrestrials, astronomy, economics, biology, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Space Shuttle, Apollo, stars, planets, solar system, scriptures, design, fuel tank, aerodynamics, fuels, hydrogen, oxygen, wheels

Phrases Analyzed "the glory of the Lord" "the glory of the God of Israel"

Note: The word translated "Lord" is actually "Jehovah" in the Hebrew text.

When the God of Israel met Moses (Exodus 3), and Moses asked, "What is Your name?", God replied, "My name is Jehovah." (Technically, the Hebrew letters yud hay vahv hay, which most scholars believe was pronounced YAH-way.)

In other words, the correct translation is "the glory of Jehovah", not "the glory of the Lord".

Exodus 16:6 So Moses and Aaron said to all the Israelites, "In the evening you will know that it was the LORD who brought you out of Egypt, 7 and in the morning you will see the glory of the LORD, because he has heard your grumbling against him. Who are we, that you should grumble against us?"

Exodus 16:10 While Aaron was speaking to the whole Israelite community, they looked toward the desert, and there was the glory of the LORD appearing in the cloud.

Exodus 16:11 The LORD said to Moses, 12 "I have heard the grumbling of the Israelites. Tell them, `At twilight you will eat meat, and in the morning you will be filled with bread. Then you will know that I am the LORD your God."

Exodus 24:15 When Moses went up on the mountain, the cloud covered it, 16 and the glory of the LORD settled on Mount Sinai. For six days the cloud covered the mountain, and on the seventh day the LORD called to Moses from within the cloud. 17 To the Israelites the glory of the LORD looked like a consuming fire on top of the mountain. 18 Then Moses entered the cloud as he went on up the mountain. And he stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights.

Exodus 40:33 Then Moses set up the courtyard around the tabernacle and altar and put up the curtain at the entrance to the courtyard. And so Moses finished the work.

Exodus 40:34 Then the cloud covered the Tent of Meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. 35 Moses could not enter the Tent of Meeting because the cloud had settled upon it, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.

Exodus 40:36 In all the travels of the Israelites, whenever the cloud lifted from above the tabernacle, they would set out 37 but if the cloud did not lift, they did not set out—until the day it lifted. 38 So the cloud of the LORD was over the tabernacle by day, and fire was in the cloud by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel during all their travels.

Here we see that "the glory of the Lord" was visible for extended periods—in fact, at least forty years—as a cloud by day and as a pillar of fire by night.

According to Blumrich, the fire Ezekiel saw was the rocket engine as the ship descended and the cloud was exhaust, etc. Clearly, the Israelites had seen ordinary clouds before. If they really were seeing exhaust fumes and contrails (condensation trails—like jet exhaust) somebody would have mentioned that it did not look like a cloud. Also, they repeatedly talk about the cloud and the fire but never mention any sound.

Keep in mind that there were at least two million Israelites—plus a "mixed multitude" of non-Israelites who left with them (Exodus 10:37) (Figuring 600,000 Israelite men, 600,000 wives, and an average of several children per family it would be at least 2.5-3 million, not counting the "mixed multitude".) If the cloud/pillar had disappeared even for a few minutes, someone would have noticed.

If the "shuttlecraft" was continuously visible for forty years, how did it get refueled? Remember—Blumrich estimates that the command capsule (crew cabin) is only about 2 meters (6-1/2 feet) in diameter. Where did the crew get food and water for forty years? Where did they sleep? Where did they bathe? Where did they get toilet paper? (Remember—Blumrich says they looked human!) Sooner or later, the restroom must have stunk really bad!

Leviticus 9:5 They took the things Moses commanded to the front of the Tent of Meeting, and the entire assembly came near and stood before the LORD. 6 Then Moses said, "This is what the LORD has commanded you to do, so that the glory of the LORD may appear to you."

Clearly, they expected something to manifest visibly.

Leviticus 9:23 Moses and Aaron then went into the Tent of Meeting. When they came out, they blessed the people and the glory of the LORD appeared to all the people. 24 Fire came out from the presence of the LORD and consumed the burnt offering and the fat portions on the altar. And when all the people saw it, they shouted for joy and fell facedown.

Fire also fell from heaven on numerous other occasions that no one claims had anything to do with spacecraft. See 2 Kings 1:10-12 and 1 Kings 18:22, known as "the Battle of the Prophets", and 2 Chronicles 7, below.

Numbers 14:10 But the whole assembly talked about stoning them. Then the glory of the LORD appeared at the Tent of Meeting to all the Israelites. 11 The LORD said to Moses, "How long will these people treat me with contempt? How long will they refuse to believe in me, in spite of all the miraculous signs I have performed among them? 12 I will strike them down with a plague and destroy them, but I will make you [Moses] into a nation greater and stronger than they."

A censer is a small container for disbursing incense. Korah tried to get people to follow him instead of Moses and Aaron.

Numbers 16:16 Moses said to Korah, "You and all your followers are to appear before the LORD tomorrow—you and they and Aaron. 17 Each man is to take his censer and put incense in it—250 censers in all—and present it before the LORD. You and Aaron are to present your censers also." 18 So each man took his censer, put fire and incense in it, and stood with Moses and Aaron at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. 19 When Korah had gathered all his followers in opposition to them at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, the glory of the LORD appeared to the entire assembly. 20 The LORD said to Moses and Aaron, 21 "Separate yourselves from this assembly so I can put an end to them at once."

Numbers 16:42 But when the assembly gathered in opposition to Moses and Aaron and turned toward the Tent of Meeting, suddenly the cloud covered it and the glory of the LORD appeared. 43 Then Moses and Aaron went to the front of the Tent of Meeting, 44 and the LORD said to Moses, 45 "Get away from this assembly so I can put an end to them at once." And they fell facedown.

Numbers 20:6 Moses and Aaron went from the assembly to the entrance to the Tent of Meeting and fell facedown, and the glory of the LORD appeared to them. 7 The LORD said to Moses, 8 "Take the staff, and you and your brother Aaron gather the assembly together. Speak to that rock before their eyes and it will pour out its water. You will bring water out of the rock for the community so they and their livestock can drink."

1 Kings 8:10 When the priests withdrew from the Holy Place, the cloud filled the temple of the LORD. 11 And the priests could not perform their service because of the cloud, for the glory of the LORD filled his temple. (2 Chronicles 5:14 reports the same event.)

Again "the glory of the Lord" appears but there is no report of the huge noise that definitely would have accompanied either rocket engines or seventy-thousand horsepower helicopters. (Comparison to modern jets.)

The temple was enclosed. If "the glory of the Lord" were a shuttlecraft as Blumrich claims, it would have had to descend into the courtyard and then fly horizontally into the temple. At the end of his book Blumrich estimates—really, more speculates—that the diameter of the "saucer" was about 18 meters, i.e., 59 feet. He estimates/speculates that the helicopter rotors were 11 meters, i.e., about 36 feet. This means that the ship would be 29 meters (95 feet) in width from rotor tip to rotor tip. Assuming that the "commander" was not doing super-precise flying, he probably would have wanted at least an additional 4.5-6 meters (15-20 feet) on each side of the entrance, for a total of 38-41 meters (125-135 feet).

According to the Bible (1 Kings 6), the main temple was twenty cubits wide. Although the width of a cubit is not certain, it is generally believed to have been about 18 inches (0.5 meter). Per Wikipedia, Israelite cubits during the Temple period ranged from about 16.85-17.5 inches. An 18-inch cubit would make the Temple only 9 meters (30 feet) wide. Even if we quadruple that—on the speculation that a cubit was quite a bit longer than is generally believed—it still is only about 36 meters (120 feet) wide.

Also, to generate a cloud, the commander would have had to fire the rocket engines—inside the temple. The inside of the temple had cedar paneling—wood. It was overlaid with gold. One burst of rocket engines and the whole thing would have burned to a crisp!

What if the commander used Blumrich's proposed cold gas maneuvering thrusters instead to generate the cloud? Real smart—release oxygen or hydrogen near an altar with a lamp burning and fire used for sacrifices! Even if it wasn't oxygen or hydrogen, to store a fairly large amount of gas it would have had to be cooled to liquid state. Releasing large amounts of extremely cold gas in a confined area?—also real smart! Enough gas to fill the temple for an extended period would have severely lowered the temperature, causing the wood to crack and deform.

2 Chronicles 7:1 When Solomon finished praying, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the LORD filled the temple. 2 The priests could not enter the temple of the LORD because the glory of the LORD filled it. 3 When all the Israelites saw the fire coming down and the glory of the LORD above the temple, they knelt on the pavement with their faces to the ground, and they worshiped and gave thanks to the LORD, saying, "He is good his love endures forever."

This is another account of the same events described in 1 Kings 8.

Ezekiel 1:28 Like the appearance of a rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the radiance around him.

This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. When I saw it, I fell facedown, and I heard the voice of one speaking.

Ezekiel 3:12 Then the Spirit lifted me up, and I heard behind me a loud rumbling sound—May the glory of the LORD be praised in his dwelling place!— 13 the sound of the wings of the living creatures brushing against each other and the sound of the wheels beside them, a loud rumbling sound.

Ezekiel 3:22 The hand of the LORD was upon me there, and he said to me, "Get up and go out to the plain, and there I will speak to you." 23 So I got up and went out to the plain. And the glory of the LORD was standing there, like the glory I had seen by the Kebar River, and I fell facedown.

Ezekiel 8:4 And there before me was the glory of the God of Israel, as in the vision I had seen in the plain.

Ezekiel 9:3 Now the glory of the God of Israel went up from above the cherubim, where it had been, and moved to the threshold of the temple. Then the LORD called to the man clothed in linen who had the writing kit at his side 4 and said to him, "Go throughout the city of Jerusalem and put a mark on the foreheads of those who grieve and lament over all the detestable things that are done in it."

Ezekiel 10:3 Now the cherubim were standing on the south side of the temple when the man went in, and a cloud filled the inner court. 4 Then the glory of the LORD rose from above the cherubim and moved to the threshold of the temple. The cloud filled the temple, and the court was full of the radiance of the glory of the LORD. 5 The sound of the wings of the cherubim could be heard as far away as the outer court, like the voice of God Almighty when he speaks.

Ezekiel 10:18 Then the glory of the LORD departed from over the threshold of the temple and stopped above the cherubim. 19 While I watched, the cherubim spread their wings and rose from the ground, and as they went, the wheels went with them. They stopped at the entrance to the east gate of the LORD's house, and the glory of the God of Israel was above them.

Ezekiel 11:22 Then the cherubim, with the wheels beside them, spread their wings, and the glory of the God of Israel was above them. 23 The glory of the LORD went up from within the city and stopped above the mountain east of it. 24 The Spirit lifted me up and brought me to the exiles in Babylonia in the vision given by the Spirit of God.

Then the vision I had seen went up from me, 25 and I told the exiles everything the LORD had shown me.

Ezekiel 43:1 Then the man brought me to the gate facing east, 2 and I saw the glory of the God of Israel coming from the east. His voice was like the roar of rushing waters, and the land was radiant with his glory. 3 The vision I saw was like the vision I had seen when he came to destroy the city and like the visions I had seen by the Kebar River, and I fell facedown. 4 The glory of the LORD entered the temple through the gate facing east. 5 Then the Spirit lifted me up and brought me into the inner court, and the glory of the LORD filled the temple.

Ezekiel 44:4 Then the man brought me by way of the north gate to the front of the temple. I looked and saw the glory of the LORD filling the temple of the LORD, and I fell facedown.

In the Bible, the phrases "the glory of the Lord" and "the glory of the God of Israel" are used with two distinct meanings. One is the usual idea of "greatness" in an abstract sense: "See? God is glorious."

The other sense is shown above. During Old Testament times, the God of the Bible visibly manifested to the Israelites. They saw something. During their wandering in the desert, God visibly manifested as a cloud during the daytime and as a pillar of fire at night. If a child asked, "Daddy, where is God?", the father could point to the pillar of fire and say, "There! There He is."

These are all the times where the phrases "the glory of the Lord" and "the glory of the God of Israel" are used to refer to the visible manifestation of God. This visible manifestation is known in Christian and Jewish theology as the Shekhainah glory of God.

Again, contrary to what Blumrich claims, "the glory of the Lord" and "the glory of the God of Israel" clearly refer to some supernatural phenomenon, not to any sort of craft. Nobody claims that Moses, Aaron, King Solomon and millions of Israelites saw a shuttlecraft!