Blurred Vision

"So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did just as the Lord commanded. Aaron threw his staff down in front of Pharaoh and his officials, and it became a snake. Pharaoh then summoned wise men and sorcerers, and the Egyptian magicians also did the same things by their secret arts: Each one threw down his staff and it became a snake. But Aaron’s staff swallowed up their staffs." Exodus 7:10-12

The news report reads, "Glen Thorman, fire chief for East Jordan, Mich., claims a motion sensor camera captured an image of what appears to be an angel floating above his truck ..." The report quotes one individual as saying, "You can kind of clearly see what looks, or could be interpreted as, wings and a head, but at the same time since it’s not clearly in focus and since it is what it is, there may be room for interpretation.” It is difficult to make out what is in the photo because the image photographed is out of focus. But, it has the appearance of what most people believe angels look like; a figure dressed in white with a pair of white wings. Another news story talks about the 101st anniversary of what has come to be known as "Our Lady of Fatima" or the "Miracle of the Sun." The story begins, "Mary appeared to three peasant children near Fatima, Portugal, six times between May 13 and Oct. 13, 1917, and asked for prayers for world peace and an end to World War I, for sinners and for the conversion of Russia." Visions of Mary are called Marian Apparitions. The apparitions have happened numerous times over the years in both public and private situations. As one article puts it, "Apparitions of Mary are held as evidence of her continuing active presence in the life of the Church, through which she "cares for the brethren of her son who still journey on earth." Last, but not least are those that claim to have seen visions of Jesus Christ. Aside from the biblical accounts of people having real encounters with Jesus or those who claim to have seen Him during their salvation experience, there are others that seem to stretch the imagination, to say the least. A recent article on this subject starts out by saying, "The image of Jesus has been seen in potato chips, bananas, french toast and now the flames of Fargo." Yes, it says potato chips, bananas, french toast and now inside flames. While these seem outrageous, they are, in fact, true stories. If you want a more serious example of what some believe to be an image of Jesus, we have the Shroud of Turin. According to the website of the same name, "The Shroud of Turin is a centuries old linen cloth that bears the image of a crucified man. A man that millions believe to be Jesus of Nazareth." As of 2010, there were an estimated 2.2 billion Christians worldwide. I am sure most of us would claim to believe in the existence of angels, Mary, the mother of Jesus, and, of course, Jesus Christ Himself. While I do not doubt that the people in these stories believe what they saw, there is one question that bears answering; "How do they know what angels, Mary and Jesus looked like in order to claim they saw them?"

While there are some details given as to what angels looked like, there are no details of what Mary and Jesus looked like other than a general description of Jesus given in Isaiah 53:2; "He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to Him, nothing in His appearance that we should desire Him.” When it comes to angels, one must first realize that angels are spirit beings. They do not have any specific physical form. But, when they do take a physical form, it varies as to what characteristics they take. Some take human form (Genesis 18:1-19; Joshua 5:13-14; Mark 16:5). Other times they appeared in a fashion similar to the apparent angel photographed above the gentleman's truck, with one major difference; they were terrifying in there appearance. They would announce themselves with "Do not be afraid (Luke 2:10)." When the Angel of the Lord rolled back the stone at the tomb of Jesus, "The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men (Matthew 28:4)." There are angels described as having human-like features; faces, hands, feet. But, they are also described as having six wings (Isaiah 6:1-2), instead of the two-winged versions that are common in most supposed "appearances." As for Mary, there are no descriptions of her physical appearance. We only know she was "highly favored (Luke 1:28)." But, that is a description of how she was seen in the eyes of God, not what she physically looked like. As for the description of Jesus given from Isaiah 53:2, this is a general description stating that there was nothing special about His appearance, but not any specific characteristics about it. My point in saying all of this is that since we don't know what angels, Mary or Jesus looked like, we cannot say that what people claim to see is real. In fact, in many of these cases, the images people claim to see are eerily similar to the classical, man-made depictions we have come to appreciate from art and literature. This makes me suspicious as to whether these appearances are of the Lord if they even happened at all. What we need to caution ourselves against is automatically believing that something we believe to be supernatural is of God. It could be of the god of this age; the devil. We read in Exodus where Aaron threw his staff on the ground in front of Moses and it turned into a snake, as God said. Yet, we also see Pharoah's magicians who did the same thing using their "secret arts." They also duplicated the Plague of Blood as well (Exodus 7:22). The devil also has angels; more commonly known as demons. Remember the devil is known as the father of lies (John 8:44), he deceives the whole world (Revelation 12:9), masquerades as an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14) and had one-third of the angels follow him in his rebellion against God (Revelation 12:4). The devil uses all his ability to keep people from the truth of God and believing his lies. Therefore, be wary of any supernatural event you witness because while it may be from the Lord, it may actually be from the enemy trying to keep you trapped in error you don't even know you are in bondage to.