Three Angels Broadcasting Network Devotional. Sound the Alarm By Jenni Poling August 19th, 2026 “Blow the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in My holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble; for the day of the Lord is coming, for it is at hand.” Joel 2:1 To take a stroll in late summer in Southern Illinois is to be treated to a symphony, day or night. The air is filled with the sound of insects, including crickets, katydids, grasshoppers, and cicadas. There is a seemingly endless array of melody and percussion. No song is louder than that of the cicada, however. In fact the Australian green grocer cicada is considered one of the loudest insects in the world. Cicadas can produce sounds up to 120 decibels—loud enough to cause permanent hearing loss in humans at close range. The male cicada doesn’t deafen himself, however. He is equipped with the ability to protect his own eardrums by shutting them down while singing. So what are these noisy creatures? At first glance, they might appear to be enormous flies, but closer inspection reveals that they have wide-set eyes, short antennae, and membranous wings held close to the sides of their body. The largest cicada—the empress cicada—has a head and body length of 2.8 inches and a wingspan of 8 inches! Another amazing fact about the cicada is that it comes engineered with the first known biomaterial that can kill bacteria. Its wing surfaces are covered with nanoscale-sized spikes that simply tear the bacteria apart. Cicadas spend the majority of their life underground, tapping into the roots of trees and emerging for only a few short weeks to mate and lay eggs. There are two major groups of cicadas: the annual and the periodic types. All spend considerable time underground, but the periodic cicada broods are synchronized to emerge all at once every thirteen to seventeen years. And when this happens, it’s quite an event because the sight and sound are tremendous! Cicadas like to sing during the daytime, but especially at dawn and dusk. One evening, while we were on one of our walks, it occurred to me that they sounded like so many alarms going off, and that got me thinking. What are alarms used for? Well, there are alarm clocks to wake you up. There are also fire alarms, burglar alarms, and car alarms, among others. The message of these alarms is about the same: if you want to avoid trouble, get up, get ready, and get going! I wonder, might there also be some internal alarms going off? Alarms that tell us to shake off our lethargy and observe what is happening around us in the spiritual realm? Is there something that tells us to wake up and be roused to action? Listen, because the alarms may be sounding loudly for you! So as you enjoy your evening walks, and if you are in a place where you can hear these “alarms,” think about the message God may be trying to give you. Don’t forget to listen and heed the alarms, trusting God to get you through.

Three Angels Broadcasting Network Devotional. Sound the Alarm By Jenni Poling August 19th, 2026 “Blow the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in My holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble; for the day of the Lord is coming, for it is at hand.” Joel 2:1 To take a stroll in late summer in Southern Illinois is to be treated to a symphony, day or night. The air is filled with the sound of insects, including crickets, katydids, grasshoppers, and cicadas. There is a seemingly endless array of melody and percussion. No song is louder than that of the cicada, however. In fact the Australian green grocer cicada is considered one of the loudest insects in the world. Cicadas can produce sounds up to 120 decibels—loud enough to cause permanent hearing loss in humans at close range. The male cicada doesn’t deafen himself, however. He is equipped with the ability to protect his own eardrums by shutting them down while singing. So what are these noisy creatures? At first glance, they might appear to be enormous flies, but closer inspection reveals that they have wide-set eyes, short antennae, and membranous wings held close to the sides of their body. The largest cicada—the empress cicada—has a head and body length of 2.8 inches and a wingspan of 8 inches! Another amazing fact about the cicada is that it comes engineered with the first known biomaterial that can kill bacteria. Its wing surfaces are covered with nanoscale-sized spikes that simply tear the bacteria apart. Cicadas spend the majority of their life underground, tapping into the roots of trees and emerging for only a few short weeks to mate and lay eggs. There are two major groups of cicadas: the annual and the periodic types. All spend considerable time underground, but the periodic cicada broods are synchronized to emerge all at once every thirteen to seventeen years. And when this happens, it’s quite an event because the sight and sound are tremendous! Cicadas like to sing during the daytime, but especially at dawn and dusk. One evening, while we were on one of our walks, it occurred to me that they sounded like so many alarms going off, and that got me thinking. What are alarms used for? Well, there are alarm clocks to wake you up. There are also fire alarms, burglar alarms, and car alarms, among others. The message of these alarms is about the same: if you want to avoid trouble, get up, get ready, and get going! I wonder, might there also be some internal alarms going off? Alarms that tell us to shake off our lethargy and observe what is happening around us in the spiritual realm? Is there something that tells us to wake up and be roused to action? Listen, because the alarms may be sounding loudly for you! So as you enjoy your evening walks, and if you are in a place where you can hear these “alarms,” think about the message God may be trying to give you. Don’t forget to listen and heed the alarms, trusting God to get you through.

One morning in May 1860, Elizabeth Packard kissed her six children goodbye and expected to see them at dinner. She never came home. Her husband Theophilus — a minister, a man the community trusted — had a problem. His wife thought for herself. She questioned his theology openly, in public Bible study classes, without apology. She disagreed with him and said so out loud. So he signed a paper. Under Illinois law at the time, that single signature from a husband was enough to have a wife committed to a psychiatric asylum. No doctor. No hearing. No evidence of any kind beyond one man's word. By that afternoon, Elizabeth — forty-three years old, a mother of six, guilty of nothing except having opinions — was locked inside the Jacksonville Insane Asylum. What she found there changed everything. The asylum was full of women. And almost none of them were mentally ill. They were inconvenient. Independent. Unwilling. Women committed for managing their own money. For talking too much. For questioning their husbands' decisions. For praying more than their husbands found comfortable. The institution wasn't a hospital. It was a cage — and the law had handed husbands the key. Elizabeth did what brilliant, determined people do when stripped of everything else. She started taking notes. For three years, in the margins of scraps of paper, in notebooks hidden inside dress seams and beneath floorboards, she documented everything. Every woman's story. Every practice. Every injustice she witnessed. She did not break. She prepared. Then came the moment her husband had not planned for. A public jury trial — a sanity hearing Theophilus agreed to confidently, certain that no jury would believe a woman over a minister with a three-year commitment on record. He had catastrophically misjudged her. The courtroom was packed when Elizabeth rose to speak. She was not angry. She was not pleading. She was calm, precise, and ready. She explained her "insanity" simply: she believed in free will. Her husband believed in predestination. She had said so in a Bible study class — and kept saying so when challenged. That was it. That was the entirety of the case against her. Then she read from three years of hidden notes. She described case after case of women imprisoned for equally ordinary reasons. She spoke for hours with the composure of someone who had been preparing every single day of her imprisonment. "I do not ask for pity," she said. "Only for justice." The jury was gone for seven minutes. Seven minutes to undo three years. The verdict: completely sane. Unquestionably sane. The courtroom said out loud what the law had refused to acknowledge — that a woman's disagreement with her husband was not a symptom. It was her right. She walked out free. But she wasn't finished. Not even close. She came home to find Theophilus had taken her children and her possessions. He tried to have her recommitted. He told people she was dangerous. So she published her notebooks. She self-published her account of the asylum in 1868. She traveled on almost no money, state to state, speaking before legislatures, testifying before judges, writing to newspapers, standing before anyone who would listen. She wasn't fighting for herself anymore — she was fighting to dismantle the legal machinery that had been used against her and could be used against any woman at any time. It worked. Illinois passed commitment reform in 1867. Other states followed. New laws required medical examination before commitment, legal representation, the right to a jury trial, and actual evidence — not just a husband's word. In an era when women couldn't vote or own property, Elizabeth Packard changed what the law said was possible. The cost was real. She lost years with her children. She lived in poverty. Some of her children never fully came back to her. She accepted that. She kept writing anyway. She died in 1897 at eighty-one, having spent thirty-seven years making sure that what happened to her would never again be quite so easy to do to someone else. Her husband signed one paper to silence her. She spent the rest of her life writing thousands of pages in response. And the women who came after her — women who never knew her name — had legal protections that Elizabeth Packard built from hidden notebook pages, courtroom testimony, and decades of quiet, relentless, unglamorous work. Her name was Elizabeth Packard. 1816–1897. Imprisoned for disagreeing with her husband. She rewrote the law so no one else could be. If you believe she deserves to be remembered — share this. Because the best way to honor someone who refused to be silenced is to keep their voice alive. #WomenWhoChangedHistory #JusticeForAll

Three Angels Broadcasting Network Devotional. Music to My Ears By Jenni Poling August 4th, 2026 “For lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone. The flowers appear on the earth; the time of singing has come, and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land.” Song of Solomon 2:11–12 What is the sign of the coming of spring for you? The first green blades of grass? Robins in the yard? For me, the frog choruses are always what I look forward to. When I lived in Michigan, I was amazed to hear the tap-tap-tapping of the wood frogs as soon as the ice thawed; but in southern Illinois, the first songs we hear are the chorus frogs, followed closely by the spring peepers. The former reminds me of the sound you get when you run your finger over the tines of a comb, and the latter sounds like the cheeping of little birds. These are soon followed by the wailing of Fowler’s toads, the snoring sounds of the crayfish frogs, and the cackling of the southern leopard frogs. I often like to tell people that the crayfish frogs are snoring and the leopard frogs are laughing at them! More voices soon follow, for the sounds of other species will take up the call as the first ones cease. There will be voices all summer long and well into the fall. While it isn’t exactly music, frog sounds fill my heart with joy. God’s funny, rubbery little creatures sing with such boldness and abandon! Only the threat of imminent danger will silence them—and then, only temporarily. God is always faithful. As we move through the seasons of our lives, we may mourn the losses and ignore the gains. One constant remains, however: God is with us through everything. Our Creator never tires of sending us evidence of His love, from one season to the next. The same God is the Creator of all, and He never changes. Bible prophecies tell us that difficult and dangerous times are coming. God has revealed these things because He wants His people to be forewarned, not surprised. But instead of gaining confidence because of the trustworthiness of God’s Word, some are filled with fear or panic instead. Perhaps, like the frogs, they will lapse into frightened silence. So how is it with your heart? Is the future still something to look forward to? Do you fear it or face it with the expectation of good? Trial and danger may silence us temporarily, but we can have confidence and joy, knowing that whatever comes, it will end in good. The future is better than the past. In the words of Paul, “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.” 2 Corinthians 4:17–18.

THREE ANGELS BROADCASTING NETWORK DEVOTIONAL. A Living Masterpiece By Teresa Bonilla July 20th, 2026 “… ‘Great and marvelous are Your works, Lord God Almighty!’ ….” Psalm 118:23 The first day of spring had arrived and with it the beautiful blooming flowers. It seemed as if all of southern Illinois were a garden. Red flowers, yellow flowers, green grass—they all suddenly appeared outside my window. And while it was impossible for me to picture it, every time there was a change of season I got a glimpse of how our Earth’s first week went. Yes, spring is my favorite season. Only a talented, merciful Being like God can take a dead, broken, hopeless world and transform it into the most beautiful piece of art in the blink of an eye! A long time ago, I concluded that if He can take a dead tree and bring it to life, He can do the same work in us; and the Lord continues to change my life from dreary winter darkness into sun-soaked spring. During times of loneliness or discouragement, He strengthens and renews me. He paints a new picture for me each day, making the sun shine in my heart—even when it rains. I can’t help but say, “I love you, Lord, my source of strength! The Lord is my high ridge, my stronghold, my deliverer. My God is my rocky summit where I take shelter, my shield, the horn that saves me, and my refuge.” Psalm 18:1–2 (NET). I have many talented friends that can draw the unimaginable, and I’ve seen many amazing works of art. But nothing has amazed me as much as God’s artwork! He doesn’t just exhibit His art on gallery walls, either—we all have the opportunity to observe His designs in the clouds, the flowers, the animals, and even in the wind. But His best paintings are the ones He does inside our hearts. When we allow Him to do His work, we will never find anything less than a masterpiece in there! The condition He finds us in doesn’t matter. His creativity transforms any broken, filthy stone into a shining jewel. Before He begins, He considers every damaged and torn part of our lives, in order to restore it. He even chose to live like we do in order to sympathize with us completely. “For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:15–16). His undivided attention to every detail makes each piece of art unique and precious. Will you let Christ into your heart to make it into a most beautiful work of art? It will be a painting anyone can look at and admire—and others will recognize His work, because it will have His signature all over it!

Three Angels Broadcasting Network Devotional. Morning Glory By Jenni Poling July 5th, 2026 “Cause me to hear Your lovingkindness in the morning, for in You do I trust; cause me to know the way in which I should walk, for I lift up my soul to You.” Psalm 143:8 There are several varieties of morning glories to be found in Illinois, and they are prolific because they thrive in poor soil and bright light. Among my favorites are the ivy-leaved morning glory, whose bloom is a beautiful sky-blue color, and the bigroot morning glory, whose easily-recognized flower is large and white with a burgundy-colored throat. Other colors include violet, white, and vivid red. I have yet to see any of the red ones—but they’re on my “bucket list.” From the name morning glory, one can correctly assume that it’s a morning-blooming flower, and most blooms fade by eleven o’clock. This blooming habit is common to many varieties of wildflowers, so if you truly want to see what’s blooming in your neighborhood, get out there early! The object lesson is clear: In the spiritual realm, if you want to find a beautiful message from God, don’t delay! Start your day by seeking Him. In this way, you will find beautiful revelations of truth and strength for your day—and you’ll have all day to meditate on it. There are other hidden benefits to this interesting plant. The bigroot morning glory (also known as the wild sweet potato) has an edible tuber. Having sampled many wild foods in the past, I was tempted to try this wild edible until I discovered that the taproot-like tuber can be four inches in diameter, weigh more than 60 pounds, and be buried several feet underground! The white star variety also produces edible tubers, but it is not common. Some may be surprised to learn that the cultivated sweet potato is in the morning glory family. In fact, the sweet potato is used widely in many different cuisines worldwide, from South America to the West Indies and even the Far East. Sweet potatoes are packed with nutrients, including carotenes and vitamins C and B6. In the southern states, the traditional way to serve sweet potato is mashed and topped with brown sugar, cinnamon, and marshmallows. (we won’t even talk about sweet potato pie!) But my new favorite way to prepare a sweet potato is the Maori way: roasted and served with sweet chili sauce and sour cream (I like to use a non-dairy version). Like most things in God’s Creation, there are many more things we can learn—if we “dig a little deeper.” When we take the time to study the things of God a little more intentionally, we find fresh revelations about Him. And we’re sure to find sweet nuggets of truth as we heed the instruction found in Psalm 34:8: “Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who trusts in Him!”

THROWBACK THURSDAY - In 2010, I went evangelizing in Springfield, Illinois. In a coffee shop, I witnessed to a man pretending to be Abraham Lincoln. Assuming “Honest Abe” was telling the truth, he already knew the Lord and asked if I vote Republican.

A Little Light Reading. Who are the sons of God. Doug Bachelor. October 30, 1938. It was the night just before Halloween, and many Americans were tuning their radios to the Columbia Broadcasting System, which had just finished reporting on the weather and began playing music. Within moments, the broadcast was interrupted by a news flash about strange explosions on Mars. The an- nouncer reassured the audience that as more information became available, more an- nouncements would be made. Then the mu- sic continued. As the night progressed, the music was interrupted frequently, now with terrifying reports of an invasion. Aliens from Mars had landed in New Jersey and in cities around the world. The Earth was under a full-scale attack. Many listening to the broadcast pan- icked, and some even fled their homes for the hills. But it was all fiction. A young Orson Wells had adapted the H.G. Wells book War of the Worlds for broadcast and modified the script to present the story as though it were happening in real time. Many listeners took the fiction to be real. Those who panicked were operating with incomplete information. They had failed to hear the station announce at the beginning and the end of the broadcast that it was all mere drama. Coming in at the middle, hear- ing only part of the story, they had no context and ran off thinking the sky was falling. Similarly, there is a passage in the book of Genesis that, when read out of context, has caused many to believe the Earth has been in- vaded by aliens from outer space. Let’s take a look at that puzzling verse: And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, that Who Are the Sons of God? 3 the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose (Genesis 6:1, 2, emphasis added). It’s a phrase that runs all the way through the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation: “sons of God.” So I think it is important to make sure we understand what it is really saying, don’t you? Some believe that the term “sons of God” refers to extraterrestrial invaders. They be- lieve that these beings are fallen angels or evil aliens from space who took female humans as wives and produced some notable offspring. They rationalize this belief by saying that this is the only explanation for why the progeny produced by these unions were “giants” (v. 4). They also believe these unholy unions were ultimately responsible for the increased wick- edness of man that led to the Flood. Some Bible translations flat-out say, “Some of their daughters were so beauti- ful that supernatural beings came down and married the ones they wanted” (CEV). This translation, however, doesn’t line up very well 4 Aliens, Angels, or Adopted: with the original Hebrew. Around the time of Christ, moreover, a lot of apocryphal books were in circulation; some of these works also have these kinds of strange interpretations in them. For instance, have you heard of the book of Enoch? It’s not in the Bible, but it is briefly mentioned in the book of Jude. The writer of Jude actually quotes a few lines from Enoch, which was a popular apocryphal work from the time of Christ. (It wasn’t actually written by Enoch.) It was a book of fables, similar to the more modern The Pilgrim’s Progress. Jude pulled a kernel of truth from the book of Enoch, but it should not be viewed as an endorsement for the veracity of every- thing else in the book of Enoch. Likewise, one could preach a Spirit-filled sermon while giv- ing a quote or two from John Bunyan, sharing a small kernel of truth from his allegories. It doesn’t mean the stories are true. Remember, no Christian religious author- ity—the Catholics nor the Protestants—chose to put the book of Enoch into the final canon of their faiths. They recognized it was more mythological than truth, and it certainly was Who Are the Sons of God? 5 not inspired on an equal level with the Bible, if at all. Now that you understand its place, here’s what the book of Enoch says about the sons of God: It happened after the sons of men had multiplied in those days and daughters were born to them elegant and beau- tiful and when the angels, the sons of heaven beheld them, they became en- amored of them and they said to each other, come, let us select ourselves wives from the prodigy of men and let us beget children (7:1). Some of the early church leaders read this line, blinked twice, and figured it might have indeed happened that way. As a result, some of God’s people have never totally shaken this fable from their set of beliefs. However, it is a fanciful interpretation that, if taken seriously, actually causes enormous problems with a lot of other Bible teachings. In fact, there is another important reason to understand this passage. The things that 6 Aliens, Angels, or Adopted: happen in Genesis 6, the first few verses espe- cially, reflect the conditions of the world that led to the destruction of the Earth by a flood in the time of Noah. And these things are be- ing repeated in our day. So it is good for us to understand what the Bible is really saying here and what it is not saying. On the surface, claiming that the “sons of God” refers to fallen angels might seem to be an intriguing conclusion. But as we shall see, without understanding the context that surrounds this passage, you can actually be confused into believing that certain myths are real. If there’s ever any confusion about what Scripture tells us, it’s generally due to a lack of information. When the religious leaders were confused about marriage in heaven, Jesus said to them, “Do ye not therefore err, because ye know not the scriptures, neither the power of God?” (Mark 12:24). In other words, Jesus is saying here, “You don’t un- derstand what I’m saying because you don’t know the Word of God.” Fortunately, we can clear up any confusion regarding the sons of God quite easily by gathering a little more Who Are the Sons of God? 7 information from the Bible and comparing Scripture with Scripture. Angels Are Spirits The King James Bible uses the term “sons of God” 11 times in two primary ways. However, it never uses the term to refer to an angelic being. “Who maketh his angels spirits” (Psalm 104:4). Angels are spirits; they are not flesh. They are all around us now, but we cannot see them. They generally remain in their spiritual form and have very little physical integration in our world—they don’t go to school, get jobs, or raise families. They are here to “minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation” (Hebrews 1:14). Even if they wanted to marry and have babies, they couldn’t; they don’t have human DNA. It would be easier for a jellyfish to mar- ry a mountain goat than for angels to marry people. Thus, it doesn’t make any practical sense to believe that our passage in Genesis refers to the marriage of angels, fallen or holy, to humans. Angels are not born; they are created. If God wanted more angels, He wouldn’t need 8 Aliens, Angels, or Adopted: to marry them off to humans or other an- gels to reproduce. He could create them from scratch. Speaking of Lucifer, God said, “The workmanship of your timbrels and pipes was prepared for you on the day you were created (Ezekiel 28:13 NKJV, emphasis added). Moreover, Jesus tells us plainly that angels do not marry. Marriage is a uniquely human institution, reserved for mankind. “For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are giv- en in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven” (Matthew 22:30). Mark and Luke suggest the same thing: “Neither can they die any more: for they are equal unto the angels; and are the children of God” (Luke 20:36; some translations render it “sons of God”). Notice here that Jesus makes a distinction be- tween angels and sons of God. They are classi- fied separately, which means they are not the same thing. So if the sons of God are not angels, then who or what are they? Cosmic Life? While the sons of God in our passage were not space invaders, the Bible does appear to Who Are the Sons of God? 9 teach that there is other life out there in the cosmos. It is clear in Scripture that Jesus made other planets: God “has in these last days spo- ken to us by His Son, whom He has appoint- ed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds” (Hebrews 1:2 NKJV). In the parable of the lost sheep, the Earth represents the one lost sheep, a wandering world that went astray, the one Christ came to save. It’s easy to imagine that God, in His infinite existence, created other worlds with other physical beings. Of course, we know He had seraphim and cherubim and other angels prior to our world, so at a minimum we know there are at least those extrater- restrial creatures. “For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth” (Colossians 1:16 NKJV). “And ev- ery creature which is in heaven and on the earth … I heard saying: ‘Blessing and honor and glory and power be to Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, forever and ever!’” (Revelation 5:13 NKJV). However, it is more than likely that most of these other created beings do not visit this world. You might say that the Earth is infected 10 Aliens, Angels, or Adopted: with a deadly contagious disease called sin, and we are quarantined. The only ones al- lowed to go into a quarantined hospital ward are the hospital staff; in this case, God is the head physician, and His angels are the minis- tering spirits. Princes of Planets Thousands of years ago, an intriguing “out of this world” meeting took place in heaven. “Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan came also among them” (Job 1:6). In attendance at this meeting are sons of God, as well as Satan himself. Satan says that he has come from the Earth. The sons of God were there representing their unfallen worlds in God’s universe. Satan was there to repre- sent the Earth. Why would Satan be representing our world? Originally, Adam had dominion over the Earth. He was created by God to subdue and manage it. God said to Adam and Eve, “Have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth” (Genesis 1:28). Who Are the Sons of God? 11 While Adam was in obedience to God, he enjoyed headship over the world. But once Adam sinned and obeyed Satan, that domin- ion was forfeited to the enemy. “To whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness” (Romans 6:16 NKJV). Even Jesus referred to Satan as “the prince of this world” (John 12:31). In fact, in Matthew 4:8–10, Satan offers to transfer dominion of the Earth to Jesus—if Jesus would only bow down and worship him. It makes sense that Satan could not give away dominion of the Earth if it wasn’t his to give. So when God calls a meeting of world governors, or “sons of God,” Satan attends to represent the Earth. In the Gospel of Luke, the genealogy of Jesus is traced all the way back to Adam. Notice what Luke says about this lineage: “the son of Enos, which was the son of Seth, which was the son of Adam, which was the son of God” (Luke 3:38, emphasis added). The difference between Seth and Adam is the bellybutton. Adam was created by the hand of God; Seth was born of Eve. Adam 12 Aliens, Angels, or Adopted: was the son of God, created to have dominion over the Earth. Thus, one definition for sons of God is those beings God Himself created to have dominion over the worlds He made. These beings were not born but were created directly by God. Job 38:7 tells us that when our world was created, “the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy.” The “morning stars” are angels, whereas “the sons of God” are the leaders of other worlds. (See Revelation 1:20.) With that cleared up, let’s talk about the second way the term “sons of God” is used. Heirs of Righteousness The other meaning of sons of God refers to human beings who have been recreated by God’s Spirit. “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God” (Romans 8:14). Matthew 5:9 adds, “Blessed are the peace- makers, for they shall be called sons of God” (NKJV). Here Jesus is obviously referring to human beings, but not just any human beings; these are peacemakers, the righteous children Who Are the Sons of God? 13 of God. In no way should this be construed to refer to angels or aliens. “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name” (John 1:12). Notice that there were those who were not sons of God, but that through receiving Him became sons of God. “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God” (Romans 8:14). It should be mentioned that “sons of God” doesn’t mean just males. Many Bible trans- lations render the phrase “children of God.” Galatians 3:26 says, “For ye are all the chil- dren of God by faith in Christ Jesus.” It is by faith that a man or woman becomes a “child of God.” And, of course, some verses do men- tion God’s adopted sons and daughters. “Even to them I will give in My house and within My walls a place and a name better than that of sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off ” (Isaiah 56:5 NKJV). To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption 14 Aliens, Angels, or Adopted: of sons. And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. Wherefore thou art no more a ser- vant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir through of God through Christ (Galatians 4:5–7; see also Isaiah 56:5; Philippians 2:15). The inescapable conclusion from these verses and others is that “the sons of God” in Genesis 6 refers to the righteous children of God. Daughters of Men This would mean the term “daughters of men,” used in Genesis 6, refers to the daugh- ters of the unrighteous children of men, or those human beings who do not call on the name of the Lord. In the context of our Bible passage, “daughters of men” refers to the off- spring of Cain and his wife. Before moving on, I’d like to tackle one of the most popular questions skeptics enjoy posing about the Bible; that is, “Where did Cain’s wife come from?” This is yet another Who Are the Sons of God? 15 example where you just need to keep reading to get your answer. Genesis 5:4 tells us that Adam and Eve had many sons and daugh- ters. If you lived 930 years, like Adam, and if you were healthy, fertile, and reproductive for only 20 percent of your life, you would still have around 200 childbearing years. With God’s command to be fruitful and multiply, no doubt Adam and Eve’s progeny became quite numerous. Considering the near perfect vitality and health experienced by the first genera- tions … well, they probably had throngs of children. So Cain undoubtedly took one of his many sisters as his wife. At this point in Bible history, when man’s genetic vitality was at its peak, there was nothing forbidding the practice. Abraham married his half-sister (Genesis 20:2). Isaac married his cousin. It was not until the time of Moses that mar- rying a sister was forbidden, likely because of the greater risk of genetic weakness and health complications with the offspring (Deuteronomy 27:22). At first, Adam and Eve had two sons, Cain and Abel. Cain murdered Abel, so God gave 16 Aliens, Angels, or Adopted: Adam and Eve another son, Seth. He began to have children of his own, and they “began to call on the name of the Lord” (Genesis 4:25,26 NKJV). And from what we’ve seen in the Bible, those who call on the name of the Lord are called the sons of God. “But as many as re- ceived him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name” (John 1:12). “And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Acts 2:21). Now Cain had been banished from God’s presence after he murdered his brother. He settled “in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden. And Cain knew his wife; and she con- ceived, and bare Enoch: and he builded a city, and called the name of the city, after the name of his son, Enoch” (Genesis 4:16–18). Here, before the Flood, we have the de- scendants of Cain living in cities and the de- scendants of Seth living in the country. As long as they remained separate, the sons of God remained pure in their religious beliefs and practices. However, eventually they began to in- termingle. Maybe the sons of God needed Who Are the Sons of God? 17 supplies that could be more easily obtained in the cities where the daughters of men resided. The sons of God and daughters of men became familiar with each other, even friendly. Whatever the case, soon the godly sons of Seth, or sons of God, captivated by the beautiful daughters of Cain, began to marry these “daughters of men,” the descen- dants of Cain. In other words, the sons of God chose to take wives as they desired—women who were pleasing to the flesh—without regard to their moral character. They ignored good advice and likely did not receive the consent of their parents, nor did they consult with God and consider His will in the matter. Mixed Marriages It’s even quite possible the sons of God went into this situation with good intentions. Maybe they believed they could convert these daughters of Cain, introducing them to the Lord their God. It’s also possible the daugh- ters of Cain enticed the sons of God with promises, saying they would eventually fol- low the Lord. 18 Aliens, Angels, or Adopted: However, the counsel of God could not be clearer: “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteous- ness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you. And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty” (2 Corinthians 6:14–18). God does not want His children marrying the unconverted or the unbelieving, even if they have a pretty face, the nicest disposition, Who Are the Sons of God? 19 or a passionate belief in regarding the spiri- tual realm. It makes no difference; God says that relationship will have problems. Praise be to God that He is merciful. Sometimes He blesses us in spite of our rebel- lion and bad decisions. There have been situa- tions in which believers marry unbelievers and the unbeliever eventually comes around. It was still wrong to get married. The words of God are unmistakable: Do not be unequally yoked. But with repentance and submission, God forgives. If that weren’t true, there would be no hope for most of us. God sometimes alleviates the con- sequences of our bad choices, but it is unwise to knowingly ignore His counsel. You become part of the problem that will lead to great wick- edness in the world when all the thoughts of men’s hearts are only evil continually. So the results of these intermarriages were not only giants, but sorrow. Instead of the sons of God influencing the daughters of men, the daughters of men influenced the sons of God. Neither shalt thou make marriages with them; thy daughter thou shalt not give unto his son, nor his daughter 20 Aliens, Angels, or Adopted: shalt thou take unto thy son. For they will turn away thy son from following me, that they may serve other gods: so will the anger of the Lord be kindled against you, and destroy thee suddenly (Deuteronomy 7:3, 4; emphasis added). The Bible is filled with stories about the sons of God mingling with the daughters of men and the disasters that follow as a result. Samson, chosen by God, was derailed by the Philistine women. His parents pled with him to avoid marrying a pagan bride, but he insist- ed on having what he wanted. “Then his father and mother said to him, ‘Is there no woman among the daughters of your brethren, or among all my people, that you must go and get a wife from the uncircumcised Philistines?’ And Samson said to his father, ‘Get her for me, for she pleases me well’ ” (Judges 14:3). Likewise, King Solomon no doubt be- lieved that he could marry the daughters from pagan nations and, with his unsurpassed wis- dom, convert them. However, those pagan daughters drew away Solomon’s heart. This is why God is so adamant about His children Who Are the Sons of God? 21 not marrying unbelievers. It is almost al- ways the case that the believer is gradually transformed by the unbeliever, not the other way around. Jesus likewise has a warning for us in these end-times: But as the days of [Noah] were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, un- til the day that [Noah] entered into the ark (Matthew 24:37, 38). Jesus here is likely referring to the mixed marriages of Genesis 6 that brought on the universal wickedness leading to the Flood. As in Noah’s day, before the Flood, things that led to the destruction of the world with a deluge by water are going to happen again. The pre-Flood events are a preview of what’s going to happen before the destruction of the world by a flood of fire when Jesus comes again. History is going to repeat itself, but we don’t have to be among the repeat offenders. 22 Aliens, Angels, or Adopted: Polygamy Mixed marriages between the sons of God and daughters of men were not the only re- sult of disobedience. In Genesis 6:2, we read that “they took them wives of all which they chose.” This is also where polygamy began. “And Lamech took unto him two wives: the name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other Zillah” (Genesis 4:19). Lamech was one of the sons of Cain, and he took two wives. So it wasn’t just marrying out of one’s faith that went against God’s will, it was mar- rying more than one person. The sanctity of marriage was being lost, even at the begin- ning of time. This sounds like what’s happening in our world today. It’s only gotten worse! For instance, a popular American reality television program, called Sister Wives, docu- ments the life of a polygamist family living in Lehi, Utah, which includes the man, Kody Brown, his four wives, and their 16 children. The Brown family sued the state of Utah be- cause of its bigamy laws, claiming they’re a violation of their rights based on the First and Fourteenth Amendments. The whole nation Who Are the Sons of God? 23 was watching because the same arguments are being used for people who say they’re in love with a person of the same gender; with that objection out of the way, a person could easily claim they are in love with two or three or four people. When the sons of God rejected the sanc- tity of their wedding vows, the peculiarity of their faith, the importance of the distinc- tion between men and women—one mom, one dad, God’s design for a family—violence soon filled the land and the thoughts of men’s hearts were only evil continually. Jesus says this will happen again at the end of time, right before the “coming of the Son of man.” That time has very much arrived. Turn on the television and flip to almost any sta- tion; you’re going to see promiscuity, perver- sion, divorce, deception, and a whole lot of violence. So many programs are built around killing and murder, while the sanctity of mar- riage is constantly being ridiculed. But God says, “My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years” (Genesis 6:3). God looked into the future and 24 Aliens, Angels, or Adopted: saw where all this wickedness was leading men and determined that it would have to end. Christ said later, “And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened” (Matthew 24:22). In the end times, God will have to do it again for the elect’s sake. For 120 years, the Spirit of God, through the preaching and example of Noah and his family, strove with that generation that was imprisoned by sin. They refused to listen. When Noah and his family entered the ark and the door was shut, there were only eight people inside that still believed God. Probation was closed for the rest. For seven more days life went on outside the ark for that amalgamated race of Cain and Seth, whose descendants had sacrificed their purity and had given themselves over to evil. Are you pure today? God says to you, “My spirit will not … always strive with man.” Will you listen? A Giant Problem You might be thinking that I have forgot- ten to address the “giants” who were born as a Who Are the Sons of God? 25 result of the sons of God marrying the daugh- ters of men. If the sons of God were merely the righteous offspring of Seth and the daughters of men were the female descendants of Cain, then why were the children of these unions giants and mighty men? How do we explain the offspring of these unfortunate but human marriages? Well, I believe it’s a simple law of genetics in play called “genetic vitality.” First, giants have always been around. For example, take Robert Wadlow, born in Alton, Illinois, in 1918. At birth he weighed a normal eight pounds, six ounces. At six months, he weighed 30 pounds. A year lat- er, at 18 months, he weighed 62 pounds. He wasn’t fat; he was tall. He continued to grow at an astounding rate, reaching 6 feet, 2 inch- es and 195 pounds by the time he was eight. When he was 13, he became the world’s tall- est Boy Scout. At 13, he was 7 feet, 4 inches tall. Eventually, Robert reached a height of nearly 9 feet! (In comparison, Goliath was about 9 feet, 6 inches.) Robert’s height ac- tually qualified him as the tallest person in modern history. 26 Aliens, Angels, or Adopted: But this oversize fame wasn’t always easy for him. His clothing required three times the normal amount of cloth, and his size 37 shoes cost thousands of dollars a pair—and that was back during the Great Depression. When Robert turned 20, the International Shoe Company provided his shoes for free and hired him to promote the company. That’s all he did for an income. He visited more than 800 towns in 41 states and trav- eled 300,000 miles on his goodwill tour. The shoe company had to modify a car so he could get in, removing the front seat so he could sit in the back and stretch out his long legs. Even though he was of enormous size, he was very good natured, intelligent, and gen- tle. People were always giving him shocked stares. They would ask him, “Does it bother you when everyone stares at you?” He would reply, “Oh, I just look above it all.” He tried to maintain a normal life, enjoying stamp collecting and photography. He’d even take pictures of people taking pictures of him. Robert was a modern-day giant, with no need of fallen angels nor aliens to produce Who Are the Sons of God? 27 him or explain his existence. The giant off- spring of the sons of God and daughters of men likely resulted from genetic vitality. When a people group is isolated for years and only intermarry with one another, like some Pacific Islanders do, the gene pool be- comes restricted and more prone to birth defects and genetic abnormalities. After several generations of this kind of isolation, when they finally marry outside their island or tribe, the children of those unions tend to be more healthy, robust, and, yes, even big- ger. The biggest cats in the world are ligers, a hybrid between tigers and lions. Adoption Choices Not everyone who thinks he or she is a son or daughter of God really is. The Pharisees, the religious leaders of the day, boasted to Jesus that they were the chil- dren of Abraham. Jesus corrected them. “If ye were Abraham’s children, ye would do the works of Abraham” (John 8:39). You might not get a real sense of how scandalous this statement was for Jesus to say when you read it at first—but it so publicly embarrassed the 28 Aliens, Angels, or Adopted: Pharisees that they eagerly began seeking His death. But Jesus didn’t stop there … Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceed- ed forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me. Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word. Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do (John 8:42–44). This is a simple principle to test our true heritage. Which “father” do we follow in our actions? The Pharisees were leaders in the church, yet that did not give them security. Just being a member of a synagogue or just being Jewish did not make them children of God. Today, just by being on the books in your church does not make you a son or a daughter of God. Instead, we are the children of the one whom we obey. Whose desires we do, that is our father, whether of righteous- ness or of sin (Romans 6:16). That’s pretty serious. So whose child are you? Are you a child of God? Who Are the Sons of God? 29 When we are born again and are adopted into the family of God, we will want to imitate our heavenly Father. “He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked” (1 John 2:6 NKJV). If you are not a son or daughter of God now, the wonderful news is that you can choose a new family. By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing plea- sures of sin, esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he looked to the reward (Hebrews 11:24–26 NKJV). When called by God, Moses traded in his Egyptian adoption for a heavenly one. Through Jesus, you can too. When the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to 30 Aliens, Angels, or Adopted: redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adop- tion as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!” Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ (Galatians 4:4–7 NKJV). Jaycee Lee Dugard was 11 years old when she was kidnapped at a bus stop on June 10, 1991, by Phillip Garrido and his wife Nancy. She was kept in a soundproof shack that was isolated from public view. Cruelly held as a slave, she also fathered children for the Garridos for 18 years. After a while, this circumstance became normal for her. It be- came ordinary. She had come to believe that she was part of the Garrido family, but she later found out what kind of fiends Phillip and Nancy really were. Fortunately, she was eventually discovered and delivered from that terrible condition and was reintroduced to her real family. Talk about a total change of a life! Who Are the Sons of God? 31 Similarly, the devil has kidnapped a lot of people in this world who should be children of God. He’s taken them and abused them, and he has manipulated them into thinking they are with their true family. They are con- vinced that the lies of the devil are the truth, that he is their friend. Phillip Garrido made that claim over Jaycee. Perhaps even you have gotten so used to the devil, you think you are part of his family. You have become comfort- able having him around. But he’s a kidnapper, an abuser. You’ve got to wake up and hear Jesus saying that you can be free. Phillip Garrido was sentenced to 431 years in prison. His wife was sentenced to 36 years. Jaycee received a $20 million settlement from the state, plus a big book deal. She’ll probably be okay financially if she manages her money well for the rest of her life. What a change of fortune from living in a hovel in some per- vert’s backyard—to being liberated, finding your real family, living a clean life, living a normal life, and suddenly going from poverty to riches. What a radical transformation! That’s what the Lord wants to do for us. Right now, you can choose to be a child of the King, an heir of eternal life, and become a son or daughter of God in whom He is well pleased! Just ask Him.

I'm not sure what I'm looking for. I am still recovering from strokes. And feel like I don't really belong anywhere. My husband is in jail, my daughter and grandbaby live in Illinois that is where my heart is. My so-called church friends or congregation knows that in order to attend church I need a ride. I can't drive yet but I am improving. There is one gentleman from church that has been given me a ride for 7 months and I'm grateful. But with the gas prices being so high I'm at least 10 MI from his home. Then another 10 mi at least to Church. So I do understand. So I sit in my little room do my Bible studies on my Bible app and listen to Bible services online. I guess to make a long story short I'm just hoping to find someone or people that I can connect with and not feel so alone. I hope I did this right I am still struggling with my recovery so if I need to do my story differently please give me the information to do so.

Today is Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day. The name comes from the Hebrew word "shoah" meaning catastrophe, utter destruction or desolation. It was established in 1959 on the anniversary of Warsaw Ghetto uprising on April 19, 1943. The television movie, Skokie, aired on November 17, 1981 on CBS. It was produced by Robert Berger for Titus Productions, directed by Herbert Wise and written by Ernest Kinoy. The story, based on actual events, focuses on concentration camp survivor Max Feldman (Danny Kaye,) his wife Bertha (Kim Hunter) and their teenaged daughter Janet (Maren Kanter.) They live peacefully in the Chicago suburb of Skokie, Illinois where Max has just discovered that a group of Nazis planned to march through their town. Danny's performance is powerful and one to watch. He has seen first hand what the Nazis had done back in Germany and he wasn't about to go through that again. He wasn't going to ignore them, no,not this time. He would rather fight and spill blood if he had to. After making that impassioned speech, Danny looked around and noticed tears in the eyes of what he thought were were Hollywood extras. They were actual Holocaust survivors. As Danny remembered "everyone one of them had tattoos on their arms "