(Edited by sister Cheryl Lowe.)
A Note:
Last Sunday (02.17.2013), brothers Tim Pinson and J. E. mentioned the book of Hosea during our gathering. The Lord put chapter 4 in brother John’s heart. It’s main theme is that the false spiritual leadership (priests and prophets) of that time was responsible for the spirit of idolatry in the midst of God’s people. The spiritual degradation of God’s people is the result of a failed priesthood. “And it will be: like people, like priests.” Because the people as a whole rejected the true knowledge of God, God eventually ceased His work unto them. His work was to make them a holy people unto Himself, as a nation of His priests. He turned blessings into wrath or judgment.
Hosea was ordered by the Lord to marry a harlot who continued to play the harlot even after they had children. But at the direction of the Lord, Hosea graciously took her back in her time of misery. This is a prophetic act portraying God’s heart and dealings with His chosen people at that time. Indeed, our God always longs to show us mercy and blessing, rather than judgment and wrath. But the condition He requires on our part is also clear:
Hosea 5:15-6:3 [NIV]
5:15 Then I will return to my lair until they have borne their guilt and seek my face—in their misery they will earnestly seek me.”
6:1 “Come, let us return to the Lord. He has torn us to pieces but he will heal us; he has injured us but he will bind up our wounds. 2 After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will restore us, that we may live in his presence.
3 Let us acknowledge the Lord; let us press on to acknowledge him. As surely as the sun rises, he will appear; he will come to us like the winter rains, like the spring rains that water the earth.”
As I ponder on these things, I was reminded of a dream I had just a few days back. Seems like the Lord brought more clarity to me of it’s spiritual implications and significance through our discussions.
The Dream
There might be some scenes before it that I don’t remember. It seemed to be a long dream…
Fight to Get Back Home
It starts with me, walking by myself across a forest in the middle of the night. There was hardly any light around at all. A trail through the trees and bushes cut an opening in the sky above, so I could see things in a blurry gray scale while walking. I knew that I was getting really close to home. It was only a short distance away at the end of the trail, on the verge of the forest. As I was walking at a fast pace, suddenly, an evil presence came out from the dark. It was invisible to my naked eye, yet very discernible to me. I could see it’s shape and it’s moves. Somehow, it believed that I would react as most people did – not able to see it, and scared away just by it’s sudden appearance. Like a bandit, it jumped in my way and came towards me, trying to deter me from moving ahead. It had no weapon, nor any skill to fight, but only functioned as an invisible moving scarecrow. Without a word, I drew out the sword hanging from my thigh, and slashed to the left and then the right into it’s invisible body. To my amazement, it withered like a puff and was reduced to the ground quickly like ashes. I had been expecting a tough fight. So it was quite a shock for me to realize that this invisible thing was miserably weak and could actually die. But I had no time to ponder on what had just happened, as there came out another two or three similar beings one by one trying to confront me. Again, I slashed them down without any hesitation or difficulty and they all were reduced to the ground and died. After that, I took the road and wasted no time homeward. It seemed that I would reach it by dawn.
The Departure of Two Girl Friends
Now the scene changed. I was somehow standing by the fence to my home, a huge mansion with gardens all around. Strangely, in one sense, the fences were like a bulwark to the mansion, erected as strong solid fortress walls. In another sense, they were just simple white wooden boards, the kind often encircling any homey and beautiful garden. (Like a “white picket” fence.) Anyhow, as I leaned my chest on the fence, I saw something intriguing take place outside.
On the edge of the forest, a curved trail cut through from left to right. At the portion facing my home, an opening lent me a good view out. There I saw a young lady, dressed in a modest blue garment, wandering around, carefree. It seemed that she had come a long way to visit my home, and had arrived quite some time ago. But somehow, the fences had stopped her. To me, the white wooden gate, unnoticeably lined up in the white fences, was an easy access. Yet the young lady saw it quite differently. I can only guess how she perceived it. Either she looked at the fences as a formidable fortress, or she was expecting a more decorated entrance into the place of her desire. I don’t know. However, had she asked, I knew that I would open the gate for her promptly. But she didn’t. Evidently, she had presumed that it would not be that easy to gain entrance- by just asking. So she never drew herself close to the gate or even to touch the fence. I also recognized that, during the time that I was looking at her, she might have convinced herself that she had reached her destination. She appeared to be at ease, content to be out of the forest.
Suddenly she heard someone calling to her. Out of the forest, from the left side of the trail, another young woman in a gray garment was rushing to her. She looked like the typical middle class wife in the time of Medieval England or something, a character that would be readily and vividly found in Jane Austen’s novels. Apparently, she ran to the young lady, her only friend, for desperate help. Now, the moment that the young girl in blue heard the cry, she ran to her friend dressed in gray and embraced her. Her friend, then, with great sorrow and much weeping, shared that she had run away from her abusive husband after confronting him- saying that the life they had together was not fit for her.
In a vision, I saw her situation. She had married to a well-to-do husband and they were a typical family in good standing. But something very repulsive and strange became the norm of their life style. It was practiced pervasively by the families they were associated with. The husbands would share their wives with each other. It seemed that no one had ever bothered to question this absurd way of living. The young lady’s friend, when she first got married, had even enjoyed it herself. Then later on, she began to recognize the wrongness of it. She just wanted to dedicate her life solely to her husband, and would not like to entertain any others anymore. Yet the husband would not honor her desire and make the change. It appeared that he was actually the leader of all of them. So the young wife ran away to seek her friend’s help. The young lady had told her that she would be walking through this great forest to seek a new home. So she followed the trail and found her here.
Having heard the story, the young lady was full of compassion for her friend. She was now eager to seek justice on her behalf. I saw them rouse from their place of crying, which was just in front of me, not far from the door. They walked back to the trail. As they just began to turn to the right, a carriage drawn by horses rushed in front of them from the direction they were heading to.
Out of it came the husband and his band. The husband drew the wife aside and began to reason harshly with her, showing her that her desire and thinking would be impractical and would bring harm to them all. The young lady, while overhearing the absurdity of his argument, would cut in their conversation to refute the husband. This situation brought the wife to great bewilderment and torment, daring not to offend any one of them and feeling ashamed by the scene she had caused. But eventually her affection and bond toward the husband prevailed. Rushed by the men, she was pushed into the carriage. The young lady, with great passion and courage, attempted to defend her friend, only to be beaten and torn aside by the wicked and violent men that had come along with the husband. She was apparently weak and defenseless against them.
This all happened like a whirlwind. The carriage took off as quickly as it came by, leaving the young woman wounded and broken. She walked back to the place where she was before, knelt to the ground and buried her face in her hands and began to wail loudly.
My Sister is Restored
I recognized what had just happened and my heart was full of affection for this righteous and courageous young lady. Either I had called out, or her cry had caused a stir, and my mother rushed out across the distance from our home and came to me to see what was happening. She was dressed like a noble lady in the Medieval Era. She and I jumped out of the fences and came to her aid. As I was carrying the young lady in my arms to our home, I came to recognize that she was no other than my young sister. And only then the mansion came to my clear sight as well. It was stately and had many levels. In the back of my head, I realized that it was actually a palace, like the Buckingham or other similar buildings, surrounded by beautiful gardens.
Buckingham Palace
Buckingham Palace
(Notice the box carriages in the picture are the kind I saw in my dream.)
It took some time for my sister to realize who she was. At the care and comfort of our mother and I, she was quickly restored to health. I can’ t recall when. But somewhere I heard a voice instruct me to tell her that she was Queen Victoria and that this was her home. She was more than safe now. This palace was her rightful place, where she belonged, and she was actually brought up here.
As time went on, my sister was restored back to her innocence and cheerfulness. We would play around in the garden all day long. Laughter and happiness filled the whole home.
Young Victoria
(After writing down this dream, I did a bit of research and found this link: http://www.twickenham-museum.org.uk/print_detail.asp?ContentID=364. Interestingly it was Queen Victoria who ordered to break down the high fences of the park, and opened it to the public.)
Playing Time
In the last scene, my sister, who was now the queen in her palace, was dressed in royal attire. She was wearing a beautiful white gown with many elegant adornments. Even so, she was quite active, laughing and running all round, but also very gracious and lady-like if I can say so. It seemed that our overdressing did not hinder a bit of our activities-I was dressed in noble clothes as a Medieval young noble as well.
Queen Victoria
(The young lady I saw in my dream actually looked quite a lot like her.)
We had just invented a new game and were now playing it in the back garden of the palace, with green lawns on the grounds. The game was like a badminton. The ball had feathers on the end, but the head was somehow different. The rubber on the end was long and elastic. So when it hit the ground, it would bounce up high in the air, and we would catch it with our bats and knock it to the other person. She and I were laughing and happily chasing after the next landing spot. As we came to the edge of the lawn, there were trees and bushes. I found a young man standing there. He was apparently my friend. But somehow, I knew that he was trying to court my sister. He was a handsome and noble young fellow, evidently had grown up with me as my close companion. Somehow he had developed great affection towards my sister. I might have invited him to play with us, so that my innocent sister could come to her senses and get acquainted with him…
At this point, while they were playing the game, my thoughts were drawn to the details of the ball itself. I came to realize that this game had never been played by any others but us. But that it was a great game to introduce to everyone. I was amazed by the mechanism that we had invented it with. It did not need a net, and so could be played anywhere. The special design on the ball’s end would bounce it up on any surface, even the soft grass in the garden.
As I was pondering on how to design this, the dream ended.
Impressions:
- The Lord revealed to me that the husband and his wicked band of friends are false leadership in the midst of God’s people who are indulging in spiritual idolatry.
- The girl friend of my sister is the false Bride.
- My sister is the Bride of Christ in our time.
- My mother is no other than the New Jerusalem in Heaven.
- The name Victoria means spiritual victory, signifying those who have overcome the spirit of the world, especially the spirit of false religion.
- The fence or the wall is the division between the world and God’s House.
- My friend, and even my sister, is a picture of true disciples of Jesus Christ. The game is discipleship in a new and simple way.
- The dream reminds me a lot of the parable of the ten virgins.
