Of Biblical proportions

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    Lynn Marzulli’s new novel, “Nephilim,” had its genesis in his examinations of theology and the Bible, as well as the modern UFO phenomenon. While amazon.com ranks the novel No. 2 in Malibu sales, Marzulli still works at his day job. “Paul the Apostle, who wrote much of the New Testament, was a tent maker to earn a living,” he notes.

    In the days of Noah, he quotes, the sons of God saw the daughters of men and chose them for their wives, and their offspring were the Nephilim.

    “‘Sons of God’ are translated from the Hebrew B’nai HaElohim as ‘angels.’ And in this case it was the fallen ones, the ‘bad guys.’ So it was a demonic union.

    “The angels left their first estate and cohabited with the daughters of men, something they were definitely not supposed to do.

    “Why the severity of the flood?” he queries. “All cultures have a flood legend. The flood happened because of this demonic union, which tainted the genetic code, the DNA of the inhabitants of Earth.

    “Another interesting text is when Moses sends spies into the Promised Land. Joshua and Caleb report the Nephilim were in the land and say, ‘We were like grasshoppers in their sight.” The Jewish historian Josephus reported their skeletons were over 12 feet in height.

    He connects his novel’s story to the modern world through the UFO phenomenon.

    “Fifteen years ago, I’d be labeled ‘wacko-fringe,'” he says. “Today, there are sightings all over the world, sightings by policemen, pilots.

    “I, of course, don’t believe they are aliens,” Marzulli says. “I believe it’s demonic activity.” He says he has spoken to abductees to confirm their stories.

    “From a Christian point of view, what I think we’re looking at is the demonic manifestation to deceive.”

    Marzulli, a devout Christian, says other Christians have “blasted” him. “But the Book of Enoch, quoted in the Book of Jude, speaks of the time of Noah and the B’nai HaElohim and what they did.”

    He points to the prophetic portions of the Bible. “Someone has left a signal who is outside the space-time continuum. This is a heads-up.

    “It says, when Israel comes back to the homeland, you’d better start watching out. This whole thing with the Pope apologizing … Israel had to be gathered from the four corners of the Earth. Once that happens, the prophetic clock starts ticking. The Diaspora has lasted almost 2,000 years. No other nation was born in a day. And Israel is a major UFO area.”

    Why fictionalize his thoughts? “It’s a great medium,” he says. “You can download through great characters and a mesmerizing plot. A writer can still slip his views in, or at least warn against something.”

    Years ago, a friend had challenged him to write about life on other planets. “I had no answers,” Marzulli says. He wondered, “If there is a sovereign God, would there be life on other planets.”

    A writer friend told him about Zondervan Publishing and introduced him to the senior acquisitions editor. Three months after sending three chapters and a loose outline to the editor, Marzulli got the call: The publisher was interested, liked the title, found the concept fascinating and was sending a contract.

    “It was wonderful but also terrifying because I never had to produce, staring at an empty computer screen that was saying, ‘Be creative! Knock me out! Make me want to turn the page!'”

    He promises Nephilim is an easy read. It’s in its fourth printing. “It takes the reader who knows nothing about the phenomenon and indoctrinates the reader into what may, please capitalize and underline may, be happening.”

    Nephilim is called a supernatural thriller. Marzulli says people look for the spiritual and supernatural in psychic hotlines. If you want supernatural, he says, read the Bible.

    Otherwise, Marzulli sounds like a pretty normal guy. Born in Massachusetts, he was always telling stories as a child, he wrote his first composition at age 6, which talent, he says, later developed into writing tall tales. He “got serious” 15 years ago and says this is “the first olive out of the jar.”

    Also a classically trained musician, primarily in piano, he began writing and arranging for a 56-piece jazz orchestra immediately after graduating high school. He now serves as music director of First Nazarene Church in Ventura, hired because of his Christmas musical for Malibu Presbyterian.

    He spotted a woman named Peggy at church 15 years ago, but she had a boyfriend. After they broke up, he says, “I swooped down. ‘How about a cup of coffee?'” he asked her. They married, and their two daughters, Corrie, nearly 13, and Sarah, 9-1/2, are doing spectacularly. Sarah has one more year before being pronounced cured of her leukemia. Then, her father says, “the Sword of Damocles lifts. When I start getting down about things, I just look at her. That’s a tremendous blessing.”

    How else does he deal with life’s traumas? “Life is a trip to the dentist’s office,” he says. “We’re floating in a shell. And when life is over, we’ll forget it.”

    “Nephilim,” by L.A. Marzulli, is available through amazon.com. A chapter may be read online at www.spiraloflife.com.