Teresa Odden

View Original

Bible Snatched Dream

 I was reading my Bible, which had a light that was somehow embedded in it. The Flash from DC Comics swooped in and snatched the light and when he did, my modern-day translation disappeared. I was left with the old, King James Version. It was a bit hard to understand. Before each chapter was a slippery page with a quote or a verse on it. I guess you could say it was like velum paper. It looked like my white KJV Bible I received from my dad in my youth.  

The Flash returned and tried to steal my Bible, but he was unsuccessful. 

I told someone “I never understood the Bible when I use to read this old translation, but it didn’t keep me from reading it.” “I’ve always read it, I’ve always had a hard time memorizing it, but I keep doing it, and the Lord helps me remember it when I need it.”

I continued, “Even though it doesn’t appear I know much it doesn’t mean I don’t have it with me. I’ve read it and it will always be in me and a part of me. Always!”

End of dream (January 25, 2019)

INTERPRETATION

This dream is about the enemy trying to take the Word of God from me. I also see the scripture where Satan is described as an “angel of light.” He comes to steal the Light of God (the Word). The majority of the verses I have retained are from my childhood King James Version Bible, emphasizing a personal message to me and the importance of memorizing scripture.

This dream is a word of caution from the Lord. Do not assume we’ll always have access to the Word of God. The enemy will do what he can to get the word out of our possession. Satan knows the Word is God (John 1:1) and that God is Truth and the Truth sets us free (John 8:32). And, that the Word of God commands us that we are to “love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’” Satan wants us to worship him. Of course, he doesn’t want us to know the Word, filled with God’s promises of hope and salvation for a future in God’s presence where we will worship him for all eternity.

Satan wants the light of God to be dimmed. Psalm 119:105

This dream was in January 2019 and we had no idea one year later churches around the world would be closed to prevent the spread of the COVID-19.  When states began to reopen establishments, most often churches were the last to open, if at all. When bars and casinos opened, churches and synagogues across the nation were banned from doing so.

Preachers were silenced. It’s February 2021 and some states have yet to permit churches to gather and worship together.

We can’t assume we’ll always have the written Word to hold in our hands or the ability to access it online. With a click of a button, an app, or a website can be taken down. I feel the light connected to the Bible represents the ability to access it electronically and paperback.

Many will say, “It’s America.” “It would never happen in America.”

Christians, the church, will always be persecuted. That we know.  “ What blessings await you when people hate you and exclude you and mock you and curse you as evil because you follow the Son of Man.” Luke 6:22

Here are some shockingly similar patterns we have experienced in 2020 from history that began at the time of the establishment of the North Korean communist party in 1945 by Kim II Sung. Sources claim that Sung formed the first genuine communist party in the country. 

In the book, Escape from Camp 14, during Kim II Sung’s rise, “A new law banned any meeting of more than five persons without official permission.” A teacher in a classroom told the students “that freedom of religion would, of course, be protected under Kim’s rule. But the teacher also said there would be state-enforced limits: devout Christians, if they behaved like “superstitious fools,” would not be allowed to hold jobs in the military or in the professions. The boy, whose churchgoing father had attended a missionary school, got the message. He stopped going to church. He also stopped listening to the Voice of America on the radio, fearing what he might learn and inadvertently say to teachers and classmates.” Harden, Blaine, (p. 210).

2020 was the beginning of the COVD-19 pandemic. American’s lived under similar bans in 2020 and even into 2021.  National guidelines were put in place and several states followed specific and even more stringent rules and regulations for their citizens. Do any of these sound familiar?

  • Limit social gatherings to 10 persons.

  • No church gatherings. Ten months later some states have yet to reopen churches.

  • If your church is one of the fortunate ones, you may not be so fortunate to worship in song. Message only.

  • Some states put in place no Thanksgiving or Christmas celebrations with anyone outside your household.

  • Limited indoor wedding celebrations and different guidelines for outdoors.

  • Attendance at funerals for loved ones were a capacity of no more than 50 and some were for no more than 10.

Did we ever think we’d live in a time where we’d be told we could not attend church, sing worship songs; including outdoors? Do you think it’s improbable that our Bibles could one day be taken from us? I do not.

The Lord in his goodness and grace speaks prophetically through dreams and I am so thankful for the things he has revealed through dreams and visions. I have seen several unfold just in 2020 (see various blog posts), therefore,  I cannot ignore this brief dream, nor should I, simply because it seems like an impossibility in the United States of America.

Without question, “We can understand these things, for we have the mind of Christ.” I Corinthians 2:16 and I Corinthians 2:10 states “ But it was to us that God revealed these things by his Spirit. For his Spirit searches out everything and shows us God’s deep secrets.”

We are living in different times and yet many will live a life that “this too shall pass.” I hope it does, but I also believe we should always be prepared to know our Word in the event it is snatched from us. Hide God’s word in your heart. Psalm 119:11

 Know God, know the Word. Know the Word, know Truth.

We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair. We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed. 1Through suffering, our bodies continue to share in the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be seen in our bodies.

Yes, we live under constant danger of death because we serve Jesus, so that the life of Jesus will be evident in our dying bodies. So we live in the face of death, but this has resulted in eternal life for you.” 2 Corinthians 4:8-12

March 4, 2021: We are living in a time that is referred to as “cancel culture.” Books deemed offensive are being censored and no longer available online and/or hardcopy. I wonder if the “light” connected to my Bible represents that a day will come when it will no longer be available via technology. I pray not.