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Two thousand year ago a Jew, writing in Greek,
penned these words:
"Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers,
for thereby some have entertained angels unaware." |
That truly is an extraordinary remark. If the
subjects of his statement are really angels they do not originate from
this world; they hail from the celestial realms. The more difficult part
is that they walk, talk, breathe, move, eat and in every other way resemble
us; otherwise we could not entertain them without recognizing that they
are different from us. If they are angels how did they become exactly like
us? Were they spirit beings who took on human form? Are they material beings
who travel from other worlds? If the former it means they can alter their
state of being; if the latter it means they come from other worlds in the
sky.
This remark is in the Christian New Testament
in the Book of Hebrews, 13:2. Such celestial visits find confirmation
in the ancient Hebrew writing of Genesis, 19:1-23. Lot was sitting in the
gate of the city one evening when two angels approached him. They wanted
to go on their way after delivering a message to Lot, but he urged them
to remain for the night. They washed their feet, 19:2, ate, 19:3, and lay
down for the night, 19:4. They acted in every way as material beings. It
does not seem reasonable that spirit beings taking on mortal forms for
a temporary visit would have the same physical needs as mere mortals. If
this deduction is correct, these angels must be material beings who traveled
to this planet from other worlds in the sky.
Numerous other accounts in the ancient Hebrew
writings show physical contact with visitors from the celestial realms.
Moses and the elders of Israel "went up" where they saw the God of Israel,
and had a banquet with him, Exod 24:9-11. It is totally unreasonable that
they really saw God, but they may have visited with a celestial agent who
was called the "God of Israel." This Being may have been assigned to the
watchcare of the Hebrew people.
Other ancient Hebrew writings show that human
mortals may be taken for visits into deep space. The author of the Book
of Enoch stated that --
"...in those days a whirlwind carried me off
from the earth, and set me down at the end of the heavens," Enoch 39:3. |
In another place he said the visions and winds
--
"...caused me to fly and lifted me upward,
and bore me into heaven," Enoch 14:8. |
He visited prison worlds, 18:14, as well as
many other places. He was given information about the future of the earth
--
"...not for this generation but for a remote
one which is to come," 1:2. |
Elijah was also lifted into heaven in a chariot
of fire, II Kings 2:11. But his was not a temporary visit; he never returned.
A record of other contact by celestial agents
is found in Rev 1:12-20.
In these examples we find record of the activities
of the agents of God, and not God himself. Our Creator does not come down
here to carry on the details of planetary salvation. He assigns those tasks
to subordinate divine "gods," to angels, and to other celestial beings.
Some of these beings may be of high spirit order, appearing in visionary
form. Gabriel came to visit Daniel, 8:16 and 9:21, as well as Mary and
Elizabeth, Luke 1:19, 26. Melchizedek visited with Abraham, Gen 14, but
apparently in physical form. If Melchizedek is a spirit being this episode
shows that he could alter his state of being.
The question before us is this: We know that
celestial beings of spirit status, or even of physical form, had contact
with this world in the ancient past. Many of those contacts dealt with
revelation. Whether it was the saving of Lot from the destruction of Sodom,
the promises of the future for this world given to "Enoch," or the forecast
of destruction recorded by John in the Book of Revelation -- all
such contact dealt with affairs important to this world. The record is
clear. But was contact terminated after Jesus left this world? Might new
contact be now reestablished to provide new revelations?
Unfortunately, to the great detriment of understanding
by both Jew and Christian, we became blind about subordinate beings providing
revelations; today we reject such possibilities. This drift away from understanding
took place over the past three thousand years simply because our planet
was isolated from the celestial realms. Contact was severely limited. But
now something new is happening. Contacts are being reestablished once again.
New revelations appear. The Urantia Papers are a precursor to the
onset of a new planetary regime.
In order to obtain a better understanding of
how new revelations can provide insights I shall now illustrate from The
Urantia Papers.
Page 865 -- "Many of the more literal phenomena
ascribed to angels have been performed by the secondary midway creatures.
When the early teachers of the gospel of Jesus were thrown into prison
by the ignorant religious leaders of that day, an actual 'angel of the
Lord' 'by night opened the prison doors and brought them forth.' But in
the case of Peter's deliverance after the killing of James by Herod's order,
it was a secondary midwayer who performed the work ascribed to an angel." |
Here is a term we never heard before. Midwayers
are beings of semi-physical but invisible status who were born on this
world many ages ago. They are from the progeny of Adam and Eve. But memory
of these beings has been lost to the planetary record.
The passages in the New Testament which describe
these events are found in Acts 5, 12, and 16.
Acts 12 -- "Now about that time Herod the
king stretched forth his hands to vex certain of the church. And he killed
James the brother of John with the sword. And because he saw it pleased
the Jews, he proceeded further to take Peter also. And when he had apprehended
him, he put him in prison, and delivered him to four quaternions of soldiers
to keep him; intending after Easter to bring him forth to the people. Peter
therefore was kept in prison: but prayer was made without ceasing of the
church unto God for him. And when Herod would have brought him forth, the
same night Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains:
and the keepers before the door kept the prison. And, behold, the angel
of the Lord came upon him, and a light shone in the prison: and he struck
Peter on the side, and raised him up, saying, 'Arise up quickly.' And his
chains fell off from his hands. And the angel said unto him, 'Gird yourself,
and bind on your sandals.' And so he did. And he said to him, 'Cast thy
garment about thee, and follow me.' And he went out, and followed him;
and understood not that it was true which was done by the angel; but thought
he saw a vision. When they were past the first and the second ward, they
came to the iron gate that leads to the city; which opened to them of its
own accord: and they went out, and passed on through one street; and after
that the angel departed from him." |
According to The Urantia Papers Peter's
deliverance was the work of a secondary midway creature. If the biblical
description is correct this secondary midwayer was able to make himself
visible in human form. The ability of the secondary midway creatures to
make themselves visible is indicated by another passage.
Page 863 -- "These disloyal midwayers were
able to reveal themselves to mortal eyes under certain circumstances, and
especially was this true of the associates of Beelzebub, the leader of
the apostate secondary midwayers." |
What is true for disloyal midway creatures
surely is true for loyal ones.
We are not sure from the historical record
who is a midwayer presenting himself in human form, and who is an angel. In Luke two personalities appeared inside Jesus' tomb, 24:4, as men in
dazzling apparel, while in Mark only one is mentioned sitting within the
tomb, a young man in a white robe, 16:5.
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But other material acts were performed by angels,
not by midwayers.
Acts 5 -- "And laid their hands on the apostles,
and put them in the common prison. But the angel of the Lord by night opened
the prison doors, and brought them forth, and said, 'Go, stand and speak
in the temple to the people all the words of this life.' And when they
heard that, they entered into the temple early in the morning, and taught.
But the high priest came, and they that were with him, and called the council
together, and all the senate of the children of Israel, and sent to the
prison to have them brought. But when the officers came, and found them
not in the prison, they returned, and said, 'The prison we truly found
shut with all safety, and the keepers standing outside before the doors:
but when we had opened the doors, we found no man within.'" |
Acts 16 -- "And when they had laid many stripes
upon them, they cast them into prison, charging the jailor to keep them
safely, who, having received such a charge, thrust them into the inner
prison, and made their feet fast in the stocks. And at midnight Paul and
Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them.
And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the
prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every
one's bands were loosed. And the keeper of the prison awaking out of his
sleep, and seeing the prison doors open, he drew out his sword, and would
have killed himself, supposing that the prisoners had fled. But Paul cried
with a loud voice, saying, 'Do thyself no harm: for we are all here.' Then
he called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down
before Paul and Silas." |
Note how The Urantia Papers enlighten
and ennoble these historical remarks.
Page 124 -- "Seraphim are able to function
as material ministers to human beings under certain circumstances, but
their action in this capacity is very rare. They are able, with the assistance
of the midway creatures and the physical controllers, to function in a
wide range of activities in behalf of human beings, even to make actual
contact with mankind, but such occurrences are very unusual. In most instances
the circumstances of the material realm proceed unaltered by seraphic action,
although occasions have arisen, involving jeopardy to vital links in the
chain of human evolution, in which seraphic guardians have acted, and properly,
on their own initiative." |
It is apparent from these accounts, both in
The
Urantia Papers and in the Bible, that the apostles and disciples of
Jesus were aided in their work by celestial personalities. It should be
clear also that those men had the blessing and support of Jesus after he
left this world. Many who would despise the Christian church should remember
the importance of its role in bringing us to the current era.
Page 2085 -- "Many earnest persons who would
gladly yield loyalty to the Christ of the gospel find it very difficult
enthusiastically to support a church which exhibits so little of the spirit
of his life and teachings, and which they have been erroneously taught
he founded. Jesus did not found the so-called Christian church, but he
has, in every manner consistent with his nature, fostered it as the best
existent exponent of his lifework on earth." |
Page 2086 -- "Christianity is an extemporized
religion, and therefore must it operate in low gear. High-gear spiritual
performances must await the new revelation and the more general
acceptance of the real religion of Jesus. But Christianity is a mighty
religion, seeing that the commonplace disciples of a crucified carpenter
set in motion those teachings which conquered the Roman world in three
hundred years and then went on to triumph over the barbarians who overthrew
Rome. This same Christianity conquered--absorbed and exalted--the whole
stream of Hebrew theology and Greek philosophy. And then, when this Christian
religion became comatose for more than a thousand years as a result of
an overdose of mysteries and paganism, it resurrected itself and virtually
reconquered the whole Western world. Christianity contains enough of
Jesus' teachings to immortalize it." |
The emphasis is mine. Indeed, it is a new revelation that is now unfolding
upon the world scene.
As we consider the events in the deliverance of Peter, Paul and other
early Christian workers who carried the news and teachings about Jesus,
we should recognize that those events came at vital moments in the chain
of human destiny. It was necessary that those men be saved for the work
of the kingdom as it unfolded in Christianity. They were the keys to the
continuing river of truth which flowed from the past and which flows on
into the future. As such they deserved the intervention and help of our
unseen spiritual brothers.
Now a new epoch is unfolding on this planet. Now high-gear spiritual
performances once again are about to break forth. A major step in achieving
this new episode was the creation of The Urantia Papers. But that
creation required contact, once again, of our spiritual brothers with the
physical world. As stated within the Papers --
"it was by just such a fortuitous combination
of cosmic adjustments that these revelations were materialized in the English
language on Urantia," page 1258. |
The chief work today of the secondary midwayers
--
"is that of unperceived personal-liaison associates
of those men and women who constitute the planetary reserve corps of destiny.
It was the work of this secondary group, ably seconded by certain of the
primary corps, that brought about the co-ordination of personalities and
circumstances on Urantia which finally induced the planetary celestial
supervisors to initiate those petitions that resulted in the granting of
the mandates making possible the series of revelations of which this presentation
is a part," page 865. |
The importance of the secondary midway creatures
should not be underestimated. They are close to, and can manipulate the
physical world.
Page 583 -- "The secondary midway creatures
are indigenous to the Adamic missions. As with the corporeal staff of the
Planetary Prince, the descendants of the Material Sons and Daughters are
of two orders: their physical children and the secondary order of midway
creatures. These material but ordinarily invisible planetary ministers
contribute much to the advancement of civilization and even to the subjection
of insubordinate minorities who may seek to subvert social development
and spiritual progress." |
Just such divine help may be needed today in
the unfolding of these new high-gear spiritual performances.
Page 865 -- "The 1,111 loyal secondary midwayers
are engaged in important missions on earth. As compared with their primary
associates, they are decidedly material. They exist just outside the range
of mortal vision and possess sufficient latitude of adaptation to make,
at will, physical contact with what humans call 'material things.' These
unique creatures have certain definite powers over the things of time and
space, not excepting the beasts of the realm." |
Page 424 -- "Primary midwayers resemble angels
more than mortals; the secondary orders are much more like human beings.
Each renders invaluable assistance to the other in the execution of their
manifold planetary assignments. The primary ministers can achieve liaison
co-operation with both morontia-- and spirit--energy controllers and mind
circuiters. The secondary group can establish working connections only
with the physical controllers and the material-circuit manipulators. But
since each order of midwayer can establish perfect synchrony of contact
with the other, either group is thereby able to achieve practical utilization
of the entire energy gamut extending from the gross physical power of the
material worlds up through the transition phases of universe energies to
the higher spirit-reality forces of the celestial realms." |
In the remaining chapters of this book I shall
present the details of how contact was established and the methods used
to bring this great revelation.
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