Some Instances Found In The Bible Of The Perceivable Intervention Of The Spiritual World Into Earth-Life
The faculties of spiritual vision, hearing and sensing are shown from the very beginning of the Bible to the very end. The Bible also takes the seeing and the hearing of the Spiritual in a very matter-of-fact way, as if pointing to the complete naturalness of anything super-physical. More often than not, the sights and sounds were not of a subjective nature, as on so many occasions they were witnessed by more than one individual and were shown to be completely external.
The following are lists indicate clearly how the intervention of spiritual phenomena into the affairs of mankind has always occurred. The appearance of the Spiritual in this world is not restricted to those few occurrences recorded in the Holy Writ:
Spiritual Beings Who Have Been Seen
The Lord appeared to Moses at Mamre (Gen.18:1)
Angels of God met Jacob, and he saw them, after his departure from Laban (Gen.32:1,2)
The same man 'wrestled' with a being, of whose spiritual nature and power he was so convinced as to say: "I have seen God face to face" (Gen.32:24-30)
An angel appeared to Moses at Horeb (Ex.3:2)
Balaam, after the opening of his spiritual eyes, saw the angel of the Lord standing in the way (Num.22:31)
Joshua beheld a spiritual being, who describes himself as: "the captain of the host of the Lord", standing over and against him (Josh.5:13)
An angel appeared to Gideon at Ophrah (Jud.6:12)
David and Ornan both saw an angel by the threshing-place (2 Sam.24:17 & 1 Chron.21:20)
The Lord appeared to Solomon (2 Chron.7:12)
An angel appeared to Zacharias the priest (Luke 1:11)
The angel Gabriel came to the mother of our Lord (Luke 1:28)
The angel of the Lord came upon the shepherds of Bethlehem (Luke 2:9)
Suddenly a multitude of heavenly beings were with this angel, in the presence of men (Luke 2:13)
Jesus and John the Baptist both saw the Spirit of God descending, manifested in the form of a dove (Matt.3:16 & John 1:32)
The presence of an angel at Christ's sepulchre so alarmed the watchers that they became as dead men (Matt.38:4)
The women entering the same sepulchre saw a spiritual being and were afraid (Mark 16:5)
After the resurrection of Christ many departed saints appeared to many at Jerusalem (Matt.27:52)
Two spiritual beings stood by the disciples on Mount Olivet (Acts 1:10)
St Stephen, just before his martyrdom saw Christ (Acts 7:55)
Christ, after He had left the Earth was seen by St Paul (1Cor.15:8)
Angels stood before Cornelius (Acts 10:30); by the side of St Peter in the prison (Acts 12:7); and by St Paul on board a ship (Acts 27:23)
It should also be noted that in many of the Biblical accounts of spiritual appearances, the terms "man" and "men" are interchangeable terms for "angel" and "angels":
Three "men" stood by Abraham as he sat by his tent door
A "man" wrestled with Jacob until the breaking of the day
A young "man" arrayed in a white robe sat within the sepulchre
Two "men" stood beside the disciples at Olivet
Cornelius, when recounting his conscious experience with the Spiritual said: "A man stood before me in bright clothing"
Spiritual Manifestations That Have Been Seen
Moses in the wilderness beheld a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. The fact that it was not a fire which burned according to earthly principles of combustion was observed because the bush burned but was not consumed (Ex.3:2)
The Israelites on leaving Egypt were guided by a pillar of cloud, whose nonphysical nature is denoted by its appearance at night as a pillar of fire (Ex.13:21)
When Moses ascended Mount Sinai the "glory of the Lord" abode upon the mountain and the sight of it was like a devouring fire in the eyes of the children of Israel (Ex.24:16 & 17)
The same "glory" filled the tabernacle (Ex.40:34,35)
At the prayer of Elijah on mount Carmel, the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the sacrifice; wood, stones and dust, and licked up the water in the trench around the altar (1Kings 18:38)
At the passing away of the same prophet, Elisha saw a chariot of fire and horses of fire (2Kings 2:12)
The young man, the servant of Elisha, saw (when the eyes of his spiritual body had been opened in answer to the prayer of the seer) the mountain full of horses and chariots of fire round about his master (2Kings 6:7)
The "glory" of the Lord filled the newly dedicated temple of King Solomon (2Chron.5:14)
On the same occasion "when all the children of Israel saw how the fire came down and the glory of the Lord upon the house, they bowed themselves with their faces to the ground upon the pavement and worshipped (2Chron.7:3)" (that is to say that the sight of the supernormal awed them).
Belshazzar, in the midst of a licentious banquet saw a spiritual materialization that took the form of the fingers of a man's hand writing his sentence of condemnation upon the plaster of the wall of the King's palace (Dan.5:5)
At night, a bright light (physically unaccountable) shone round the shepherds of Bethlehem (Luke 2:9)
The eastern philosophers were induced to travel to Jerusalem in consequence of a moving light in the atmosphere (assumed to be a star) which at length hovered over the place where the infant Saviour was (Matt.2:9)
At the Transfiguration a bright cloud overshadowed the three apostles (Matt.7:5)
At the Crucifixion the enormous veil at the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom by an unseen force (Matt.27:51)
At Pentecost an abnormal sound as of the rushing of a mighty wind was heard and felt, and tongues of fire were seen (Acts 2:2,3)
St Stephen, as he stood before the council, was spiritually overshadowed and all present "saw his face as if it had been the face of an angel" (Acts 6:15)
Saul of Tarsus, while on his errand of persecution, as well as those with him, saw a great light which blinded the former (Acts 9:3&8 & 22:9)
Voices Of Visible Angels Were Heard By:
Abraham on plains of Mamre
Moses at the burning bush
Balaam as he went to fulfil request of princes of Moab
Joshua when near Jericho
Gideon near Ophrah
Elijah as he reclined beneath a juniper tree
Zacharias in the temple of Jerusalem
The Virgin Mary in her home at Nazareth
St Peter in his prison
St Paul on the ship
Voices Of Other Visible Spiritual Beings Have Been Heard:
In a cave at En-dor, a woman saw the spirit of Samuel who addressed the king at length (Saul), foretelling of his (and his sons) departure from physical life and their arrival in the Spiritual World "on the morrow"
Transfiguration: 3 apostles saw and heard both Moses and Elijah conversing with the Saviour about His decease which He should accomplish in Jerusalem
Voices Of Invisible Spiritual Beings Have Been Heard:
Adam and Eve in the cool of day heard a Voice in the garden (no hint is given that the Divine Presence is seen)
Apparently apart from any visible demonstration, on several occasions a Voice is heard by Abraham to which he is able to converse
An invisible angel called to Hagar "out of heaven" when she was sitting in the wilderness weeping over the prospect of the death of her boy
In the Tabernacle-chambers, an unseen speaker 3 times called Samuel by name and conveyed a message through him to Eli
At Horeb, during a wild convulsion of nature, Elijah heard a still, small voice reproving him for his pessimism and despair
Eliaphaz the Temanite heard a voice of an unseen spiritual intelligence: "...spirit passed before my eyes...image...I heard a voice saying: 'shall mortal men be more just than God' ?" (Job 4:15-17)
At the baptism of our Lord the Father was invisible but His Voice was heard proclaiming: "This is My beloved Son"
This same Voice is referred to as having come from the "excellent glory" (2Peter 1:17)
At the Transfiguration the Voice of the unseen Speaker was heard again, declaring the same truth
Within the precincts of the Temple of Jerusalem it was heard a third time: "The people stood by and heard it and said that it thundered: others (the more clairaudient) said an angel spoke to him"
The voice of Christ addressed Saul of Tarsus, and those who were journeying with him "stood speechless, hearing a voice but seeing no man"
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