I wrote about the dream of moving coats. I also wrote about God shining a lamp on the number 19 for me lately. Some ongoing reflections on these follows.
A new look at references to cloaks and what it might have meant when I dreamed I was given a rack of coatss that should not receive the "wisdom" of the fountain that God made to spray off me, so I removed the cloak rack from the room where I worked and put it in another room, a room that had a window view of the room where I was, but also had a door closed between the two. I put the coat rack in that room with a young man who has made an appearance in one other dream of mine, (and that dream suddenly likewise is finding a scriptural context.) That man is young in this dream of cloaks...a student in a rehearsal hall, which was the "type" of schoolroom where he sat when I moved the coats in with him. After moving the coats into the room with that young man, I sat down next to the man who used to be my principal and he leaned over and kissed me in full view of that young man, a view made possible through that interior window. The point of the kiss, aside from the Proverbs 24 reference ("Every man shall kiss his lips that giveth a right answer.") was that this young man should observe this kiss--I think maybe for the reason of this verse. All this is review of things I've written in this blog before, mostly in the entry called She Counts.
But one new Biblical reference caught my eye the other day for what these "coats" might represent. It uses old language for such outerwear: cloaks.
In John 15, Jesus says to expect persecution and not to be surprised by it. "All these things they will do unto you for my name's sake, because they know not Him that sent Me," says Jesus. Even the NKJ drops the cloak language that follows in the next verse. It says: "If I had not come and spoken to them, they would have no sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin." But recently, I saw this verse in the Old King James, where it says: "If I had not come and spoken to them, they had not had sin; but now they have no cloak for their sin." Funny how often You use imagery that goes back to the root of Your words instead of embracing the "improvements" that have been made. When You're wanting to feed me meat instead of milk, anyway, then You seem to want to use Your original imagery.
Anyway, You conclude that passage by saying "But this cometh to pass that the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law, 'They hated me without a cause.' " I interpret this about losing a "cloak" as it being a cloak with which to hide or disguise sin, to shield against its exposure. Are these the sort of cloaks that I'm to put out of the range of the wisdom that is coming from You through me involuntarily on my part--as in the dream I can't stop the spray so the only other option is to move the cloaks? Show me then, God, how to accomplish this if it's time is near. Show how and when to sit down after I move them. (I'm trying to sit down temporarily even now, but am finding it difficult as my primary sub bailed on me last minute and left me putting out a fire to get her replaced, for today at least. What strikes me now--even as I write this--is that my partner, D., in my dream, the one who helps me move those cloaks; even now is reliably subbing for a portion of my work, even today taking up the slack for the sub who bailed, so I guess she is indeed helping me put the cloaks away from me.)
But this brings me to reflections on the other dream of this young man who was in the "rehearsal room" in this dream. I'm reminded of the one other dream I had about him. This dream also happened almost a year ago. In that dream, I was walking in a valley that felt like a plateau hugged it on one side, encircling to a mountain that rose on the other side. I walked in that valley with God, whom I referred to as the Great Physician particularly. He had a white beard. We walked and talked, assessing this very bug-eyed child (now a young man with authority over people) was doing in his work well or not. God seemed to want to know my opinion. My assessment of him was that he had thought himself more ready to lead than he actually was. In this one respect he was anti-christ: he thought he could do God's work as if he were God's equal, but when the work became too complex, he found he was not up to dealing with chaos like God could do, it was not so simple as it appeared to do when God was doing the work. He had no idea how difficult it could be to negotiate the lives of so many humans. Even as we spoke on this--God and I, that is--many people milled around us, seemingly aimless in their wanderings, yet very purposeful each in his own endeavors. Suddenly, I glanced up to the plateau above our heads and saw the very young man I spoke of looking down at us over the edge of the bluff. But as I saw him, an earthquake struck the valley. All the people suddenly started to run for the opposite side of the valley where a great mountain pass let them out of the valley. But even as they all began to run, and me with them, the young man slipped from where he'd been observing us over the edge of the bluff. He began sliding down a dry rocky gully down into the valley. I stayed behind to break his fall and to catch him at the bottom. We both began to run for the pass that marked the exit from the valley, but we were now far behind the crowd of escapees, and still the earthquake shook, making an avalanche of rock fall into the pass. In the end, the pass was completely blocked, with only the young man and me in the valley. And the world had gone pitch black. There was absolutely no light. Likewise, all life was gone. Where before green grass had grown in the valley, even under the shadowed sky of the valley's earlier life, here and now the ground was bare of all grass and even soil. It was stone with a gritty layer of sand over the top. I sat there, running my hand along that ground. The young man was utterly silent, but I knew he was still there, now in despair. I began to pray to the God who was on the other side of the wall--it was the finish of why I stayed behind to catch him in the first place. It reminded me of verses You've highlighted for me before as life verses: "Let grace be shown to the wicked, but he still will not learn righteousness." He did not pray to the God who closed the valley, but I would. That was the end of that dream. It was disturbing, to say the least, there in its ending.
Before I launch into understanding this dream, I should mention that lately, my dreams have been strangely about cleaning up both human and animal waste and about assessing whether the water for cleansing was even clean water, or needed to be. This series of dreams has been very strange to me. But one thing jumped out at me regarding their timing when I found myself reading in Jeremiah 19 (there's that "pervasive" #19 again) about the prophetic message Jeremiah was told to give, and particularly where to give it. In that chapter, God sends Jeremiah to the east gate, which was to the people of Israel known as the Potsherd Gate or the Dung Gate, the one near the city dump. This gate was in the Valley of the Son of Hinnon, which is by the entry of the Dung Gate. Because of my recent onslaught of "dung" dreams of my own, I did a little research into this valley of this Son of Hinnon, and found its landscape had uncanny similarity to the dream's landscape. Jeremiah was told to give a chilling prophecy to the people in this valley: "Behold, I will bring such a catastrophe on this place that whoever hears of it, his ears will tingle." My Bible's side notes say Jeremiah spoke over the people a "fate" of "mutual self-destruction" that would leave the place desolate, and held in derision by many. Pairing this with Jesus' words about no longer having a "cloak" for sin because ignorance was not an excuse, He had spoken, even as Jeremiah had likewise. I see parallels in these two things God has put together on my plate.
As to the valley itself, here is what I've learned about it's landscape. The name Son of Hinnom means son of lamentation. The place was a deep narrow ravine with steep rocky sides--just like in my dream! It separated Mt. Zion to the north from a hill of "evil counsel" and the sloping rocky plateau of the "Plain or Rephaim" to the South--also just like the landscape of the dream. The "leader" in the dream looked down on God and me from that plateau on the side of "evil counsel". From there, he watched me talk with the Great Physician, from there he tumbled into the valley where also was located Topheth, and we both ran for cover to the escape route beneath Mt. Zion/through Mt. Zion.
Topheth is another interesting component of this valley--being the "place of fire" in the southeast end of the valley. Its name more literally means "that which is spit upon," or the most base and despised of mortals. It was in a place well-known for its human sacrifices to Moloch--which would be a God seen as a consuming and destroying but also purifying fire, and so a god needing to be appeased by the Israelites, Solomon himself creating worship sites for this god on the Mount of Olives until Josiah interrupted the rituals. It was theses ritual sacrifices of burning ones own offspring that were particularly abominable to God. I wonder who are the "children" we've been burning for the sake of appeasing God by rites of purification, so we destroy our own.
But God told Jeremiah to say of that valley: it will stop being called the valley of Tophet (that which is spit upon) or Hinnom (lamentation) and become the valley of slaughter. (Jer. 19:6) They would be broken like a potter's vessel is broken. Indeed, in my dream, I saw such horror in that valley, although many escaped. By vs. 14, Jeremiah has been told to move from the valley to the courts of the house of the Lord where he is to continue prophesying that calamity came because the people had "stiffened their necks that they might not hear My words."
Unfortunately, Pashur--the priest--had Jeremiah beaten and put in the stocks for making such unpleasant prophesy over that valley and the city of Jerusalem and the people of Judah.
More and more I find prophets are considered to be quite inconvenient, to say the least, in the eyes of many spiritual leaders. No wonder the office was sent happily into oblivion by many church leaders once they found an excuse for getting rid of such a troublesome office. That excuse was supposedly the evidence of the finished Bible wherein it represented the coming of "that which is perfect" and thereby abolishing such gifts as prophecy and tongues. My question to them would be how their argument holds water, for don't the Psalms themselves say the law was also already perfect? Yet Christ came and established the New Covenant and sent the Comforter with His gifts, even though the complete and perfect law was already in man's hands. The prophets were given to man even though the perfect law already was in his keeping. I don't believe the verse about "that which is perfect" was about scriptural text. But I conceed: how easily we are deceived!
All I know to do is to agree in prayer with the great palmist in Psalm 19 when he prays:
Psa 19:7
The law of the LORD [is] perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD [is] sure, making wise the simple.
Psa 19:8
The statutes of the LORD [are] right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the LORD [is] pure, enlightening the eyes.
Psa 19:9
The fear of the LORD [is] clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of the LORD [are] true [and] righteous altogether.
Psa 19:10
More to be desired [are they] than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.
Psa 19:11
Moreover by them is thy servant warned: [and] in keeping of them [there is] great reward.
Psa 19:12
Who can understand [his] errors? cleanse thou me from secret [faults].
Psa 19:13
Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous [sins]; let them not have dominion over me: then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great transgression.
Psa 19:14
Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer.
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