Immanuel Sun – Dream – My Family, Corn and Wheat, Kenya – 07.27.2006

4:00 am, Thursday, July 27, 2006

Corn

I was with my sister and her son, my sister in law and her son, another boy, I believe to be the son of my second brother, and two little girls, who suppose to be my next generation as well. Strange thing about this is that I had no idea of who were the little boy and the two girls. The little boy of my second brother only began to walk when I left China 6 years ago. Under China’s policy at the time, one family could only have one child. Two of my brothers and my sister each had a son. And me, have never been married.

We were walking and playing in the fileds of my home village. My sister’s boy was playing with my big brother’s boy, who is the oldest of all the little ones. Somehow they had a fight as they used to when I was back home. The oldest got hurt and began to cry, which was not so cool. He was a mother’s boy. My sister in law came by and wiped all his tears and cleaned him up. This frustrated me a bit, for you know, we always should encourage the boys to be tough and independent – notion I used to hold tightly when I grew up. I did not like to see my nephew to become a so-called “mother’s boy.”

Yet as I was watching, I remembered a change of heart in me. Somehow I began to deeply appreciate the tenderness and love of my sister-in-law. The way she kneeled by his side, the way she wept tears away from his face. The way she gently comforted him. It took a long time for me to just ponder on that and digest this fact this sudden change in me.

A little while after that, we came into a big corn field I knew it belonged to my parents. ¹

A bit of backgournd: All of us left our village and went to work at different cities after we graduated from universities. I am the youngest. We had professors, managers, doctors in my generation. We were never rich, but each achieved well in life through education. As a result, we became a distinct family in a small rural villige. The awarenss of that distinction was ever there when gathered at home because the way we were treated by others. Yet we each loved and respected life in the village. We ourselves never really fully embraced the city life. Yet to have a corn field and somehow we all have a share of it, it would be very strange a thing in real life.

Corns had not come to the fullness, yet not far from the harvest season. Suddenly, I think, it was my sister first, found something interesting. There were white corns there! Well, you know, most corns we grew in my village are yellow when harvested. Seldom we had whites ones. I could remember that the whiteness of these was very special even comparing to common white corns. They were indeed pure white, without spot or blemish. (I could find no better words to put it.) Other corns were not eatable yet. But these white ones were in the perfect season for eating before it would become dry and hard. They were juicy, sweet and tender. Perfect.

They now got quite excited. As we were discussing, some people were walking along a little path cutting through the field. This brought about a sense of uneasiness, especially with my sister, who always wanted to take care of others. She was afraid that they would pick them. As I was sitting on the ground, others discussed together and decided to pick the white corns up and cook them up to enjoy them ourselves. They then went out again and searched the field with a report back to me that there were only 12 out there. They began to ask me for permission to gather all them-I was the man at the moment. I would like to enjoy such fresh things myself. So I consented. Then they asked me to find a basket.

“We can’t find a basket. You know it.” They said to me.

“Only you know where to find one.”

It seemed that I knew it was faraway. Yet here we all felt pressed by a sense of urgency. So instead of going to fetch the basket, I began to calculate the possibility for them to hand-pick the corns. Well, the two big girls could carry 3 each, which was their limit; each boy, two. I had difficulty to trust on the little ones to bring in any, but they seems to be very enthusiastic to go as well. Before I could figure it out, all of them set out.

As they were on their way, my mind was troubled with another issue. It took me long time to ponder on it as well. Should we roast the corns or boil them? If we do both, how to apportion them rightly? I wanted all of us to enjoy the best. Finally I decided to test each method. After tasted one or two and had they feedbacks, I would then decide what to do with the rest. I liked the boiled, but hi, I was sure fried ones would not so bad either. While I was having a hard time to figure this out, my sisters and the little ones were on their way back.

Then the scence of my dream changed.

Wheat

Now I was with my two older brothers in my parent’s home, which was in a small villege in the rural area of China. We got an amazing report of this year’s harvest of wheat. The whole village had an increase of 4 times because we had adapted a new technology and planted a new-breed of seeds. The scientist, a good friend of ours, who came out with the new technology was with us as well. While we all got really excited and began to envision that the impact this increase would bring to the lives of the whole village, our friend declared that he had just come out with even better breed. With it, the harvest would be so great that the fields could hardly hold up the wheat grown in them. Everywhere would be wheat. I could see a vision of what he was describing. As I looked out at the fields, wheat was overflowing everywhere. I am not so sure with this detail-but I think streets of our village were overfilled with wheat as well. As our excitement simmered down, we began to recognize that if this were to happen, we would have a huge problem with the storage and the usage of the coming great harvest. We began to worry what to do. My oldest brother said, we need to export the wheat. Suddenly I had a series of visions in the dream, like a motion picture.

Somewhere in the middle part of Africa. I saw a flood of wheat from Kenya overflowing to nations around it. ² Seemed the whole land of Kenya had been turned into fields of wheat. Evidently we had established certain connection with the local people, so the new technology was introduced there.

Then I was brought in a truck with a man and two women. There were local people as well. (I still do not know exactly where they came from.) I can only suppose they were Africans. But I do know the man and the women were Caucasians. The man seemed to be the leader of the whole operation. He was very attractive in looking. The women all clung to him and felt my presence little uncomfortable for them. The man seems to be very solid and wise. We were together on a mission to deliver a contract to the local people. An extraordinary volume of wheat were being transferred by trains to the local partner, we were there to also see it being properly done.

Now the local people began to go away. Surprisingly, I was handed with a cluster of some exotic fruit. To say cluster might not be exact, it looked like a patch of rough brown skin with the shape like a net. In the eyes of the net were pupil-size dots, filled with some kind of white, sweet, jelly-like nuts.

At first, I was a bit apprehensive to accept it due to the strangeness of the fruit. The woman who offered it said to me: “Take it, it’s free.” Evidently, her English was poor, so it took sometime for me to understand what she really meant. Then I realized that this was something unqiue to region, so our local friends offered to us as a gift of their deep appreciation. Each of us took a cluster and began to eat, while walking away. I pared out a nut, put in my mouth, then tasted the peculiar sweetness and the special texture of the fruit meat.

As we scattered out, the man and the older women, maybe a little over 30, walked away in advance. The younger woman, less attractive and a bit edgy, quickly followed. I was left behind and felt a little awkward. We supposed to a team, having nowhere to go, so I decided to follow them. They stopped by the bank of a river. In distance, I saw the man and the woman sat down shoulder to shoulder like lovers would do. The other woman followed up and sat behind them, apparently upset. Took pity on her, I walked up next to her and yielded a smile, trying to comfort her a bit. At that, the young woman suddenly rose up and burst out on me. Astonished, I could not remember a word she said. But basically she began to accuse me for flirting with her, which was never my intention. I tried my best to be nice to her, because I had pity on her even she had been little prideful. Yet obviously she wrongly interpreted my intentions. Somehow, in the midst of this craziness, I was able to detect that I wasn’t the real cause for her agitation. Because her jealousy towards the other woman, she made me a victim of her bitterness-she really wanted to be with the man of good looking.

At that, the dream ended and the Lord woke me up with an urge to record this. My mind was still dizzy and hardly could get it all together. I do think I have recorded down all the details, because they are somehow quite scattered. But I think I did my best.

Note by Sun (March 1, 2014):

1. Only years later, I recognized that firstfruit offered in the Temple were often roasted, at that there is a concept called first-fruits. Evidently the corns are a picture of this.
2. In China, where I grew up, corn and wheat are raised at different seasons. Each has its own harvest season, much like that of barley and wheat in Israel.
3. The fruit given to us as gift in Africa is evidently speaking another kind of fruit, which a representation of God’s people, His first-fruits there.
4. I think the man with good looking is a representation of the Lord Himself, the “matured” woman who was with him the true bride, the other the false bride, who will persecute God’s remnants or His servants. I suspected the false bride indicated here will mainly be made up by Christains who are stuck in the traditions of man, thus set their heart on a false love of the Lord. Worship of the Lord not “in Spirit and Truth (Kingdom Reality)” will inevitably become “the tradions made up by man”.
5. As we we progress into the Work of God, we will inevitably become an offense to the religious establishments and those who represents them. The Lord, while enjoying the company of His Bride, seems have leave the task to untangling such strifes to His remnants. (I might represent the ones being sent by Him into this age.) There will be a season that we will be released and empowered to overcome false things in the midst of His people. “Clear up the obstacles for the Lord to come in”.
6. This dream implies two kinds of harvest. Corn is more like a Family culture matured unto a governmental capacity; Wheat is the overflow and represents the Kingdom culture that will being blessings to many. So the shift of two scenes can mean the shift of two distinctive seasons for the work of the Lord in my life or in our midst as a remnant of God’s people.
7. My sisters and the little ones are those the Lord haves me to care for (shepherd). My brothers might represent the Lord Himself and the Heavenly Church (witnesses of Heaven). My home village is a representation of God’s Kingdom and the Household of God the Father or our spiritual dwelling place in Heaven.
8. What are corns or wheat signifying: The two kinds of wisdom of God: priestly wisdom and kingly wisdom.

April 26, 2012 at 9:20 AM

Comment by Immanuel:

In the second scene of the dream. I now know that the man is the Lord himself, the woman who was peacefully following is the true Bride, the other is the false one. The difference is their heart towards Him; but it will also manifested in the way how would treat His servants (co-workers).

There are two kinds of services or harvests that are to be done in the work of the Lord: one is to bring harvest to (feed) the nations, that is to preach the gospel, liking sowing the seeds; the other is to care for the Bride and His little ones (sanctifying them using His word to become pure, without spot and blemish), like the maturing of the crop (corn) or fruits. They are in essence two different streams and orders of God’s grace; one is to be done as He sends us out in the power of His Kingdom, the other has to be done within His family culture (discipleship, imparting wisdom in His Household). The order of these things are extremely important when we consider our seasons in the Lord and the way how we are to become His helper or co-laborer (harvester). For example, we can’t bypass the season of discipleship to expect being sent out by Him, like we can’t bypass the season of corn to engage with the grace and blessing of the season of wheat. The former rain have to produce a crop of firstfruits. The wavering of them, that is to be put in a basket and be boiled and roasted, like a firstfruits offering, has to be done in order for one to enter into the genuine service of the Lord. This is not an order of man, but one that divinely comes down from above.

(04.26.2012)

Footnote 1:  A bit of backgournd: All of us left our village and went to work at different cities after we graduated from universities. I am the youngest. We had professors, managers, doctors in my generation. We were never rich, but each achieved well in life through education. As a result, we became a distinct family in a small rural villige. The awarenss of that distinction was ever there when gathered at home because the way we were treated by others. Yet we each loved and respected life in the village. We ourselves never really fully embraced the city life. Yet to have a corn field and somehow we all have a share of it, it would be very strange a thing in real life.

Footnote 2:  I knew it was Kenya because I had an interesting experience with this nation. Months ago, when it was suffering a severe drought, one night, the Lord asked me to pray for rain. I prayed loudly and determined to ask for a week of rain to pour out on Kenya. Soon after, brother J. M. came back from Africa, somehow he decided to pay a visit and gave a report of his recent trip to me, a young man of no importance in his life-which was quite unusual. He said wherever he went to preach the gospel, there was rain. Kenya was one of the places. The drought, however, was not lifted at the time. Then surprisingly, about a month later, I heard from news that Kenya was flooded with rain to an extent that bridges and highways were damaged.