AIRPLANES IN THE BIBLE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXV, Issue 20058, 22 September 1928, Page 2 (Supplement)

AIRPLANES IN THE BIBLE.

BOOK OF REVELATIONS. FRENCH! SAVANT'S THEORY. .THE <c SCOURGE OF LOCUSTS." PROPHET EZEKIEL'S VISION. r A distinguished French savant, 51. Louis Baraduc-Muller, after many years of; study, states that he has come to the conclusion that the scourge of locusts -which St. John saw in his vision, and described in tho ninth chapter of the Book of Revelation, was actually the modern military airplane, and the sting of the locusts was the high explosive and gas bombs which the airplanes drop. In other words, the beloved disciple had euch a deep insight into tho future tliat he foresaw this terrible instrument War more than 1800 years ago! "If St. John's description of tho airplane seems fantastic, there is a perfectly good reason for this," M. Bara-duc-Muller says, in effect, in a remarkable article, in a recent issue of a Paris Journal. " Suppose a man of the Middle [Ages tried to describe a vision lie had of a railway train. He would say that it was an enormous caterpillar that moved at tremendous speed and had a horny head, with big, flaming eves, spitting cut flames, steam and smoke, and a red eye in its tail. He would also say that it inado a thunderous noise, and shrieked terrifically as it tore along, like a gigantic bird of prey darting toward its victim." Quotations and Interpretations. •I. Baraduc-Muller begins his interpre-i.'-.ion with the first verse of Chapter And tlie fifth angel sounded, and I 6aw & star fell from heaven unto the earth; n.id to him was given the key of tho bottom--1 . s pit. Uhe writer interprets the star as man's 5: ;ellectual development, the bottomless ; i is the coal, and the steam engine is •h : key. And so opens the mechanical Verse 2: And he opened the bottom- !. s pit; and there arose n Bmoke out of ■ r.s pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; acd the sun and the air were darkened k; reason of the smoke of the pit. This is regarded as an illusion to the intense industrialisation of modern life and the mechanical era. Terse 3: And there carue out of the smoke locusts upon the earth, and unto thein was given power, as the scorpions o! the earth have power. M. Baraduc-Muller says: "Hero St. Jolm catches his first glimpse of the airplane, which is the supreme triumph of our manufacturing processes, but under the influence of human passions, mankind has turned it from humanitarian purposes to evil ones. The effect oi a scorpion's bite is very similar to the effect of gas, and so this is a reference to gas warfare." Terse 4: And it was commanded them that they should not hurt tho grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any-tree j-but-only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads. The respect that these new locusts have for vegetation shows, the writer remarks, that they are not the ordinary locusts .which eat up the fields. Terse 5: And to them it was given that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months, and their iomenfc was as the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man. A Close Comparison. This torment is believed to refer to poison gas, which often causes a slow and horrible death. Terse 6: And in those days shall men geek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them. St. John has cleverly chosen the locust in describing tho airplane, it is supposed, as there is no flying insect that resembles it so closely. He again refers to their method of attack against human beings, the gas being to put them hors de combat perhaps, but not to kill them Terse 7 (in part): And the shapes of the locusts were like unto horses pre* pared unto battle. The disciple compares the airplanes to horses, it is remarked, because they were - -powerful beasts, which furnished their own power of movement, and 15 prepared unto battle" means military instruments. Terse 7 (in part): And on their heads '■ Vere E3 it were crowns of gold. St. John, says M. Baraduc-Muller, ii j extremely precise here, and instead of saying they wore crowns of gold, • he. fuvv- they seemed like crowns of gold, t VArh refers to the sunshine falling on 6 turning propeller. He proceeds:— Terse 8: "And they bad hair as the kair of women." tho smoke from the exLaust). "And their teeth were as the teeth of lions." (the two struts of the landing carriage). Terse 9: "And they had breastplates, 83 it were breastplates of iron." (the light used to protect the motors). " And the sound of their wings was as tho sound of chariots of many horses running to battle." (the noise of the motors). ' M. Baraduc-Muller says that, if modern people had never seen an airplane, and did not know how it was made, they probably would not be able to give any more precise description than St. John liimsclf. Ezekiel's Prophetic Vision, The publication of tho foregoing in the Daily Express, of August 6, was followed by a letter sent to that paper by Lord Arnpthill, a former Governor of Madras: He said: ./'.The views, of 51. Baraduc-Muller accord entirely with those of a good many persons in this country, including myself, who are convinced that the lievealation of St. John the Divine is, to a laige extent, a prophetic vision of events that have actually boon taking Place in our own time. It is, however, m tne book of the Prophet Ezekiel that airnw\ far ™° r ° def,nito description of - ln ? P''°l lhclic vision, and uito£ r . ,i has autac "= d » "It will be sufficient to quote a few veiscs from tho first chapter to show himself whh'thTt phet contented ami t u • t , CVn I : ln ß creatures,' and did not think it necessary to compare the airplanes which he saw in his .vision to any birds or insects " Some Striking Passages. Tho following verses ore cited as hardly needing comment, as there 4s no metaplior about them;— Terse s:—Also out of the midst thereof came the likeness of four living creatures.

Terse 6: —And every one hai four faces and every oue had four wings. • - Terse 7; —And tlieir feet wefe straight feet; and tho solo of their feet was like tho sole of a calf's foot: and they sparklc-d like the colour of burnished brass. Terse 9:—Their wings were joined one to another; they turned not when they went; they went every one straight forward. Terse 11: —And the living creatures ran and returned, as the appearance of a flash of lightning. Torse IS —As for their rings, they were so high that they were dreadful; and their rings -were full of eyes round about thein fourVerso 19: —And when the living creatures went, tho wheels went by them; and when the living creatures were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up. Lord Ampthill proceeds: "Can -there bo any doubt that this is a prophetic vision of a flight of military biplanes? Tho ' rings' are, of course, the identification marks on tho under side of the airplanes, for which wo looked out so anxiously when we were in tho front line during tho war. What better description could you have of those targetlike discs than that given above ? To any person seeing, an airplano overhead for the first time they would certainly look like eves underneath the wings. " Tho whole chapter needs reading in order to see how striking is tho description of a sight which is now familiar to us all by a man to whom it was new and unexpected, and ono who was, of course, entirely destitute of modern scientific knowledge and the corresponding terminology."