What if What People Call “Aliens”…the Bible Calls Something Else?

What if What People Call “Aliens”…the Bible Calls Something Else? ―Jay Zinn

“And beware lest you raise your eyes to heaven, and when you see the sun and the moon and the stars, all the host of heaven, you be drawn away and bow down to them and serve them…” ―Deuteronomy 4:19

EVER SINCE WE COULD LOOK UP, the stars have captured our imagination. It's only natural to wonder if there’s life out there, maybe even beings far greater than ourselves. That wonder has sparked stories for centuries—tales of strange figures in the sky or visitors walking among us in disguise. Out of this same fascination, people started dreaming up “gods,” carving their images into stone or wood and covering them in gold. For ages, these man-made gods sat silently in temples and palaces.

Eventually, entire nations turned away from the one true God to worship these other celestial beings—the spiritual rulers and powers of the heavens who seemed so much more impressive than regular people. But what's ironic is that the Bible calls humanity the “crowning glory” of God’s creation.[1] No other being, not even the angels, was made to be more valued or treasured than the men and women created in God's own image.[2]

If you look at the idols archaeologists have found, you start to see a pattern. Whether they’re supposed to be gods of the earth or the heavens, they’re almost always strange hybrids of animals, reptiles, or sea creatures mixed with human features—like an animal head on a human body. There’s even a technical term for it: “theriomorphic.” It’s really no different from what Hollywood does today with its aliens, which are often either bizarre hybrids or basically human-looking, just like in the Marvel or DC comics (e.g., Thor, Superman from another universe).

The gods of Egypt are a perfect example. Their idols were a whole collection of animal-human mashups, and of course, Pharaoh himself was worshiped as a god. But through each of the ten plagues, God systematically dismantled and exposed every single one of these gods,[3] showing them to be weak and powerless next to the God of Israel—the One who made everything in the first place.[4]

The Bible is pretty blunt about these hand-crafted idols, calling them illusions that come from our own imaginations. They have eyes but can’t see, and mouths but can’t speak or even breathe.[5] The prophet Isaiah points out the absurdity of it all: a man might use one part of a tree to carve a god and then toss the other part in the fire to warm his house or cook his dinner.[6] But Scripture also makes it clear that the “spirits” behind these lifeless statues aren't imaginary at all. They’re demons and fallen angels.[7] That’s why God’s first two commandments are “You shall have no other gods before me,” and a strict ban on making or worshiping idols.[8]

So, what’s the point of all this ancient history? It’s that the “gods” people worship are always changing shape to fit the culture, but the root fascination is always the same: a search for something superior to ourselves. God actually built that desire into us—a deep need to search for a Higher Being, for our Creator.

This is where Satan comes in. He was originally known as Lucifer, the “shining one,” and was one of God’s chief archangels. But he rebelled, was cast out of heaven, and fell to earth.[9] After that, he became known as Satan, the “adversary.”[10] His goal is to blind people to the truth[11] and get them to worship anything and everything “but” the Creator—including created things, or even themselves.[12]

Of course, nothing God made is actually a god; He says clearly, "there is no other.”[13] These so-called "gods" only exist in our minds, but Satan and his demons are all too happy to promote the illusion[14] and stand as the power behind the empty idol.[15]

The Bible talks about a spiritual battle against the “principalities and powers of the air”[16] and warns that our real struggle isn’t with flesh and blood, but with dark spiritual forces in the heavens.[17] With that in mind, is it any surprise that the skies are exactly where sightings of UFOs [18] are reported—or as they’re now called, UAPs?[19] The immediate assumption is always that they’re alien visitors from another planet or galaxy, i.e., beings with technology light-years ahead of our own. After all, "we" certainly can't do what they appear to do.

And that brings us to today, where it feels like the conversation about aliens and UFOs is absolutely everywhere. It’s non-stop, really, fueled by an endless stream of stories from pilots and regular folks who swear they’ve seen something up there. The whole subject is all over in books, documentaries, podcasts, and a sea of dedicated websites and forums. More and more people seem convinced the Pentagon is sitting on classified files that would prove everything, and they're just waiting for the day the government finally comes clean.

Which brings us back to that first question: what if the beings we call “aliens”… are what the Bible calls something else entirely? Because it sure seems like something is out there. The real question is, what is it?

[1] Gen. 1:26-27; Ps. 8:4-6

[2] Ex. 19:5; Dt. 7:6; 14:2; 26:18; Ps. 135:4; 1 Pt. 2:9

[3] Ex. 12:12; Nu. 33:4

[4] Gen. 1:1; Jn 1:3; Eph. 3:9; Col. 1:16; Rev. 4:11

[5] Ps. 115:4-8; 135:15-18

[6] Isa. 44:13-17; 40:18-20; 41:6-7; 46:5-7

[7] Dt. 32:16-17; Ps. 106:36-38; 1 Cor. 10:19-20

[8] Ex. 20:3-5; Dt 4:15-19; 6:13-15

[9] Isa. 14:12-15; Ez. 28:12-17; Lk. 10:18; Rev. 12:7-9

[10] 1 Pt. 5:8

[11] 2 Cor. 4:4

[12] Rom. 1:21-25

[13] Is. 45: 5, 22; 46:9; Acts 17:16-31

[14] Dt. 32:16-17; Ps. 106:36-38

[15] 1 Cor. 10:19-20

[16] Eph. 2:1-2

[17] Eph. 6:12

[18] Unidentified Flying Objects coined in the 1950’s by the U.S. Air Force.

[19] Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena coined in 2022 by the Pentagon to include aerial objects, but also submerged (underwater), trans-medium (air-to-water), or space-based anomalies.