What really happened to Sodom and Gomorrah?

Note: The following article is part of series of articles/excerpts from “MAN AND HIS PLANET – An Unauthorized History” by James E. Strickling.
More articles of this series will be posted soon.

Sodom and Gomorrah are probably the two most infamous cities that ever existed, the name of one having established itself in the English language in a term evidencing an undying image of wickedness: sodomy. Although their notorious image persists, the cities themselves have been lost for millennia, and only in recent years have their sites been tentatively identified. The Dead Sea is contained within a sunken block confined by two parallel geological faults, a configuration indicative of a catastrophic origin. The depression was not created by the action of water, and the “sea” is not really a sea but is a landlocked lake. We are told that during the Miocene Epoch (from 7 million to 26 million years ago), upheaval of the Mediterranean Sea bed produced the upfolded structures that caused the fractures forming the Dead Sea depression. The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah was probably not an isolated event. Their fate, attested by more than one ancient record, provides one more bit of testimony for the further verification of the belief that Earth has not been the insular, stable planet usually typified and that it has been scarred from above by more than just falling rocks. The Book of Genesis tells of Abraham’s kinsman Lot electing to dwell near Sodom (Gen. 13:12) and of his escape prior to the destruction of the two cities (Gen. 19:16), and of his wife at that time being transformed into a pillar of salt (Gen. 19:26). The destruction is said to have resulted from fire and brimstone falling from heaven (Gen. 19:24). The fact of the catastrophic destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah is sometimes acknowledged by scientists and historians, although the means is considered to have been of a purely geological nature.The biblical description of the destruction is typically regarded as either a misconception or a fabrication. One Arabic name for the Dead Sea is Sea of Lot (Buhayrat Lut), possibly a remembrance that the depression was formed not eons ago but as a consequence of “fire from heaven” in the time of Lot.* We find an apparent parallel in Scandinavian mythology where it is claimed that terrestrial valleys were dug by Thor’s hammer. An incident in the life of Abraham as preserved in Hebrew legend perhaps suggests as much: “The day whereon God visited him [Abraham] was exceedingly hot, for he had bored a hole in hell, so that its heat might reach as far as the earth . . .” One presumes that the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah would have been attributed by the recorders to a terrestrial upheaval, such as volcanic action or an earthquake, with no recourse to a celestial agent as an explanation for the event, unless there was compelling eyewitness testimony to that effect. What, however, might have been the agent, and what was the nature of the fire?

Immanuel Velikovsky has suggested that Jupiter was once a much closer neighbor than it is today. And this planetary behemoth was not a passive body, but was active to the point of being the progenitor of a number of terrestrial troubles. Once this thought is entertained, Velikovsky’s contention should become an obvious interpretation to any reader of ancient mythology.
Accounts of the exploits of the God of Thunder and Lightning are found in cultures worldwide. Appellations for the god vary, but their contexts offer a common testimony. The less fanciful accounts make clear the fact that the planet Jupiter was the Thunder God. He is frequently described as hurling his bolts to the earth:

Lo, through the clouds the father of the gods scatters red lightnings, then clears the sky after the torrent rain: never before or since did hurtling fires fall thicker
. . . terror filled the hearts of common folk . . . It is possible to expiate the thunderbolt, and the wrath of angry Jove can be averted. . . . The sun had already lifted his full orb above the horizon, and a loud crash rang out from heaven’s vault.  Thrice did the god thunder from a cloudless sky, thrice did he hurl his bolts.

Myth, legend and ancient history all attest that this same Jupiter once dominated our heavens as a brilliant celestial light. Hebrew legend is very specific in regard to Jupiter’s former proximity and brilliance, and it also suggests a chronological context. “Abraham’s [military] victory was possible only because the celestial powers espoused his side,” Louis Ginzberg writes. “The planet Jupiter made the night bright for him and an angel, Lailah [Hebrew: night] by name, fought for him.”
Velikovsky asserted that in the era of Jupiter’s prominence in our skies, Earth witnessed the Thunder God’s propagation of Venus—the ejection of primal planetary matter by a giant of the solar system—Venus being thrust into an orbit intersecting that of Earth. He further claimed that the Greeks came to see this event as the birth of Athene from the head of Zeus.
Whatever the past interrelationships of Jupiter and Venus, these planetary deities constituted a menacing presence in the vault above, ultimately making the Cities of the Plain victims of an unearthly disaster.
According to Velikovsky, “The planet-god Jupiter . . . was pictured with a thunderbolt because of the spectacles witnessed by the inhabitants of the earth—like a discharge that was directed toward Venus when it approached its parental body.” Moreover, “the phenomenon of brimstone (sulphur) falling from the sky . . . in the course of great discharges, as narrated in ancient sources (Old Testament and Homer among them), resulted from smashing two oxygen atoms into one atom of sulphur,”sulfur being a notable constituent of the atmospheres of both Jupiter and Venus.
Sodom and Gomorrah apparently were target zero for one such discharge. The lovely plain was burned, gouged, and jolted—never to be the same again—as the cities and their inhabitants were incinerated in an electrical torrent and carried into their common grave.
Lot’s wife was possibly a victim of the radiation emitted by the stupendous arc, “crystallized” (for lack of a better term at the present) as she watched the annihilation unshielded. The destruction was so widespread and so complete that Lot’s daughters thought themselves and their father to be the last people left alive upon the earth (Genesis 19:31-38).
Jupiter’s ragings were feared elsewhere in the Middle East as well:
“. . . Enlil, [Sumerian] god of the air . . . stood for force . . . the thunder and lightning over the Mesopotamian plain was Enlil, and also . . . it was Enlil . . . who destroyed a city.” The author reporting this incident confessed that he was unable to fathom the “true meaning” of the record.
Although the era is uncertain, we find a striking parallel to the biblical record in an account from South America:
“At Pucara, which is forty leagues from Cuzco on the Collao road, fire came down from heaven and burnt a great part of them while those who tried to escape were turned into stone.”—obviously the same fate as that of Lot’s wife.
I suspect that other records of natural electrical destruction in this period of Earth’s history are awaiting recognition or discovery.
Earth history and topography thus bear more than one type of celestial imprint. What additional strange phenomena remain hidden from our knowledge because of our preconceptions and philosophies?

Copyright James Strickling. Presented with permission
Above excerpt from MAN AND HIS PLANET – An Unauthorized History by James E. Strickling, Eloquent Books ISBN: 978-1-60693-099-1. Go to www.jimstrickling.com.

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High-Technology in the Bible

 
There are readers out there who would be surprised or offended with the notion that high-technology was described in the Bible.
There are other readers who have realized that the only explanations to Biblical mysteries are ancient Close Encounters.

A good question is: Why are certain, Old Testament events written about in the Bible? The answer could be that these were special events between basically two groups of people: One group was the primitives or the general state of humanity in Biblical times. The other group was the relatively few HUMANS that still retained and utilized technology originating from the days of Atlantis. When angels made an appearance, they were always human. Those who caused the Great Flood; gave Moses the instructions on building the Ark of the Covenant; and warned Lot then destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah…were human beings. But, these people had advanced knowledge and flew ‘chariots’ in the sky. They resided on the tops of mountains; well away from the simple world of Bible prophets in the lowlands. The most amazing example of an Old Testament Close Encounter is the Book of Ezekiel. Read the beginning of Chapter 1 in the King James Bible [Editor's Note: Read it at the end of this page - see PS Ezechiel 1:1-28 ]…only imagine that it is a UFO landing. With this idea in mind, Ezekiel’s experience is almost understandable. Ezekiel’s Book was so controversial that it nearly did not survive the religious editors who did throw out the Book of Enoch.

The Spaceships of Ezekiel by Blumrich is an award-winning book that should be read by anyone investigating Biblical mysteries. Blumrich is a scientist and NASA designer of the Saturn V rocket. He wrote that his son informed him, after reading an Erich Von Daniken book, that the prophet Ezekiel described a spaceship landing. Blumrich was positive that he could disprove that concept because of his technical skills in this field. The ancient text could not possibly portray a feasible craft; he assumed. The NASA designer wrote that he was never so surprised when he actually read the Book of Ezekiel. The ancient words did indeed conform to a realistic vehicle.
In the beginning of Ezekiel, the prophet wrote of the approach of four faces from above. In reality, the ‘four’ referred to the landing legs of the craft. Blumrich was shocked when he read the Old Testament report of ‘straight legs’ of ‘burnished brass’ with ’round feet.’ The NASA scientist himself designed the metallic, straight legs and round footpads of the lunar lander. The famous quote from Ezekiel is ‘a wheel within a wheel.’ Once the lander touched down, Ezekiel saw wheels. This is the exact chronology of what would occur with a modern vehicle. The UFO landed, transformed into a wheeled rover then rolled along the ground. Ezekiel was only familiar with wheels from simple carts that moved in one direction. But, the prophet described wheels that moved in all directions which was completely alien to Ezekiel.
Enoch was Methuselah’s father and Noah’s grandfather. His Book should be in the Old Testament. It has surfaced from independent sources which validate the ancient text. The Book of Enoch was edited out of the Bible by the Ecumenical Council for its controversies. Enoch, like Ezekiel, was taken on many flights by the gods (angels) and witnessed great horrors and beauty.

39/3: ‘…a whirlwind carried me off from the earth…’ There are numerous references to whirlwinds which ‘spirited’ Enoch away into the sky. The angels ‘showed me all the hidden things’ and ‘mine eyes saw all the secret things of heaven.’ Enoch saw views that ‘no man shall see.’ In 33/4, Enoch states: ‘I saw a great and glorious device.’

32/2: ‘And thence I went over the summits of the earth, and passed above the Erythraean Sea, and went far from it, and passed over the angel Zotiel (another ship?).

14/18-19: ‘I looked and saw a lofty throne: its appearance was as crystal and the wheels thereof as the shining sun…from underneath the throne came streams of flaming fire so great that I could not look thereon.’ Enoch mentions crystals and wheels. The throne could be a vehicle where the angels sat and underneath were fires from the rocket thrusters. The ‘vision caused me to fly and lifted me upward and bore me into heaven.’

There are numerous references to PORTALS or windows where Earthly and celestial views appeared. 33/2: ‘…portals of the heaven open. 3. And I saw how the stars of heaven come forth.’

The Book of Enoch speaks of much destruction, chaos and corruption on Earth; as well as among the angels. Like Genesis, Enoch mentions ‘giants’ and ‘the Watchers.’ There were ‘the Satans’ – the ‘Sons of Heaven’ – ‘angels of punishment’ – ‘instruments of Satan‘ – and the same specific Genesis angels: Michael, Raphael, Gabriel, etc. ‘God’ is never mentioned; only plural gods or angels.
Enoch was taken to the mountaintops where the gods resided. He observed things that no primitive could understand. The angels ‘corrupted the sons of man.’ It was these various humans, with the technology, that played God and decided the fate of the children on Earth.
The main reason Enoch’s Book was deemed heresy and taken out of the Old Testament could have been the accurate astronomy. Page after page concerns the sun, moon, yearly cycles and heavenly statistics. ‘Paths of the sun and moon,’ ‘their stately orbits,’ ‘courses of the luminaries’ and ‘revolve in their circular chariots’ are only a few quotes of Enochian wisdom.
75/8: ‘And I saw in the heaven running in the world, above those portals in which revolve the stars that never set.’ Only from space are there stars that never set. Remember, the Church during the time of Ecumenical editing condemned accurate astronomy. (Ask Galileo). Religious officials wanted the public to think that the Earth was flat, did not move and was in the center of all things.
During these ancient times, there were mad scientists (angel-demons) who cloned anything they wanted. The mythological animals were real; they were genetic experiments. Also, wars of the gods occurred. Nuclear warfare was not beyond the capability of the angels. Robert Oppenheimer, creator of modern atomics and a student of early books of India, knew that nuclear wars happened in the Old World. The deserts of today are the result of ancient, atomic wars.
Assuming that these conclusions are true: The Great Flood was probably green-lighted by good gods who wanted to reduce high radiation levels. Also…the perverted creatures and their power-crazed, genetic engineers needed to be eliminated on a global scale. The Earth was a mess and needed to be wiped clean.
There was a Great Flood that covered all of the land. Sea shells were found on top of Mount Everest. There is water erosion on the Sphinx. All land is a sedimentary deposit. Many Noahs sailed during Waterworld. The Chinese have their old stories of an Ark and a Great Deluge. Numerous indian cultures have their legends of a Flood, a Noah and an Ark.

Most people do not believe in the Biblical story of Noah because of a basic problem: How could a few people gather ALL the animals, feed and care for them on board a ship for months? The answer comes from…who controlled the Earth thousands of years ago? The angels (the humans with the technology) built the Arks, collected the animals and caused the rains. The chosen animals were probably the best examples of their specie and worthy of being saved. It is scientifically possible to place a life form in suspended animation reduced down to its DNA. This was the cargo within the Arks. The samples of DNA would be revived, later, after the waters receded. Nowhere in the Bible does it mention that Noah went out and gathered each animal. It only says Noah brought them into the Ark. If the ‘life cannisters’ were all assembled for the Noahs by the gods and the simple people merely carried them in and secured them in place, then this does explain the Noah story.
The world began again. In Genesis, it says that after the Flood: Noah went to live with the ‘gods.’ This was one of the few plural references that survived the editors of the Bible. The reference ‘gods’ was later changed to the singular ‘God.’ The simplified term was changed to accommodate a world that had become extremely simple.
Atlantis was Eden. Compare these two legends. Each was our mother-civilization or the place where we originated. Each was a Paradise. Each fell and mankind had to leave in disgrace.
It is not far-fetched how the people of Earth could divide itself into two races; a simple one and a complex one. If a nuclear war happened today, the survivors would continue in tribal communities. After generations, they would forget what technology was. But, the few who knew of the coming nuclear devastation and even caused it…would have protected themselves and be the few who still possess advanced knowledge. These ‘gods’ could deal with the numerous primitives as they saw fit. This concept is ancient history.
The Genesis story of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah is not a mystery when you plug in the idea of a modern technology. How do two cities, realistically, get wiped off the face of the Earth? The inhabitants of Hiroshima and Nagasaki may know the answer. Two, human angels came into town and warned people of the coming destruction:

• 19/17: ‘…Escape for thy life; look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the plain; escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed.’
• 19/24: ‘Then the Lord rained upon Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven.’
• 19/26: ‘But his wife looked back from behind, and she became a pillar of salt.’
• 19/28: ‘…the smoke of the country went up as the smoke of a furnace.’
• 19/30: ‘…he (Lot) feared to dwell in Zoar: and he dwelt in a cave, he and his two daughters.’

The angels directed Lot and his family to save their lives by running to the mountain. A land mass can protect one from a nuclear blast. The cities were ‘consumed’ with ‘brimstone and fire.’ This is a perfect description of a nuking. A mushroom cloud moving vertically could be the meaning of ‘went up as the smoke of a furnace.‘ Lot’s wife did not make it; not because she looked back, but because she trailed ‘behind’ the rest of her family. A primitive seeing an atomic explosion would be more than stunned; they would tend to stop in their tracks. Not looking back is good advice to those running for their lives. The ‘pillar of salt’ could have come from finding her body later and discovering the effects of radiation. Finally, hiding in a ‘cave’ because of the fall-out until the land was ready for habitation is very logical.
Genesis 1/26: ‘And God said, let us make man in our image, after our likeness…’
2/21: ‘And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh…’
In Genesis 1/26, there are important clues that the creation of Eve from Adam was not conducted by a singular God. In this one sentence, there are three plural references: ‘us,’ ‘our’ and ‘our.’
This was a CLONING operation observed by a primitive who did not understand. First, one of the technicians caused Adam to fall into a ‘deep sleep.’ This was the anesthesia. Second, a cell must be taken from somewhere on the body to create another body. The rib area was where the cell was taken. They ‘closed up the flesh’ is a modern expression describing the completion of the operation. Master-cloners could quickly form an adult and change the sex from the original. This idea was illustrated in a Star Trek Next Generation episode where a primitive was brought back to life and mistook Captain Picard as a god. He prayed to ‘the Picard’ and was later corrected.
Before the Red Sea parted, there were two UFOs leading the people out of Egypt. Exodus 13/21: ‘And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them away; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; to go by day and night.’ These objects in the sky could very well be spacecraft when you consider: clouds (or smoke) by day and fire by night. Rocket thrusters could create billowing smoke in sunlight. But, at night, the flames from the propulsion systems would be what was mainly visible.
These chariots in the air could have held back the waters of the Red Sea with forcefields. Exodus 14/22: ‘And the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea upon dry ground: and the waters were a wall (on either side).’ With a flick of a switch. turning off the forcefield at the appropriate time, the ‘waters returned, and covered the chariots’ of the Egyptians.
All through Exodus, this Lord God demands that ‘I am the Lord’ and ‘I will be to you a God: and ye shall know that I am the Lord, your God.’ In 15/3, there is a strange reference: ‘The Lord is a man of war.’ This is curious because it says God is a ‘man’ and not a very nice one. It is more like God is a big bully; having power over people; pushing his weight around only because he has the ability to do so.
There is a warning in 19/12 to ‘go not up into the mount, or touch the border of it: whosoever toucheth the mount shall be surely put to death.’ This Biblical God was not God. 19/18: ‘And mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the Lord descended upon it in fire…and the whole mount quaked greatly.’

In Exodus, Moses was given instructions on building the Ark of the Covenant. The inventive genius, Nikola Tesla, wrote in ‘The Wall of Light’ that Moses had to have been a skilled electrical engineer. The Ark, Tesla concluded, was a very powerful ‘condenser.’ It created intense vibrations that could smash solid stone. The Israelites carted the device into battle and won wars with it; not unlike the vibration weapons the Fremen used in the film ‘Dune.’
I Samuel 14/5: ‘And when the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord came into the camp, all Israel shouted with a great shout…’ 4/8: ‘…who shall deliver us out of the hand of these mighty Gods? these are the Gods that smote the Egyptians…’
In II Samuel 6/6-7…a simple man named Uzzah, disregarded warnings, touched the Ark improperly and was electrocuted! ‘…Uzzah put forth his hand to the ark of God, and took hold of it; for the oxen shook it. And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Uzzah; and God smote him there for his error; and there he died by the ark of God.’ The man attempted to place it back on the ox-drawn cart and died. They had no concept of high-voltage. 6/9: ‘And David was afraid of the Lord that day.’
The story of Jericho is told in the Book of Joshua. The actual site of Jericho was found. The stone walls were over ten feet thick. What could bring down massive walls? According to the Old Testament, it was the power of the Lord. Marching around the stone fort and blowing trumpets could not possibly shatter such walls. The Ark of the Covenant was there and responsible for ‘tumbling down’ the walls of Jericho. There are numerous references to, again, a great shout.
Jonah was taken aboard a submarine. But, the prophets would not have that modern word; so the description became a ‘great fish.’
How were the 10 Commandments cut into stone? The finger of God could have accomplished this if they were lasers.
The burning bush may have been electric.
The Virgin Mary could have been artificially inseminated.
The Biblical reports were not understood 500 years ago or even 100 years ago. It was only until the 20th Century and its technology that we could finally understand what was really happening. There is evidence that our REAL prehistory was similar to science-fiction. Most people either reject the Bible as nonsense or believe it is the absolute word of the Supreme Being. The Bible is the most amazing account of Close Encounters. The events were real; they happened; but the truth is extraordinary.

Copyright 2002-2012 by Doug Yurchey

Note from the Editor

The Bible contains many descriptions that defy convincing explanation on the grounds of theology (but become comprehensible when interpreted in context of modern technology). Follow links below to unaltered quotations from the Bible and come to your own conclusions:

Genesis  |  Exodus  |  Numbers  |  Nehemiah |  King 1&2  |  Ezechiel 
 Daniel  |  Deuteronomy  |  Book of Enoch |  Book of Enoch – The Watchers

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