I am a firm believer that they do.
Remember, that numerous times in the book of Genesis, Joseph interpreted dreams. He had his own dream (Gen. 37:5-11), foretelling of his future role as Pharaoh's right-hand man and of his civil headship over his elder brothers. He interpreted the dreams of the chief of butlers, and the chief of bakers (Gen. 40). He even interpreted the dream of the mighty Pharaoh himself (Gen. 41). These dreams "came true," or rather, they foretold the future. We can clearly see that these prophetic dreams came from God (Gen. 41:25,
"And Joseph said unto Pharaoh, The dream of Pharaoh is one: God hath shewed Pharaoh what he is about to do."). So, on that I would extrapolate that prophetic dreams come from the Lord. I still would remind myself that I believe even The Enemy has the ability to tell of the future, but the idea that prophetic dreams coming from our Heavenly Father would seem to be supported by Genesis 40:8, "
And Joseph said unto them, Do not interpretations belong to God?" We even see the
"angel of the LORD" appearing to Jesus's father Joseph
in a dream (Matthew 2:13, 19). Clearly, dreams can be a powerful form of communication from the Lord to His children.
I believe dreams can foretell the future in astounding detail. I believe they can be in parable form (as in Genesis). I also believe that sometimes they can be in strange, less-than-detailed forms, more raising awareness of the coming event than actually telling it's outcome correctly. Most of the time, I think dreams are nonsense. Many of mine are triggered by things that happened lately, are happening, have happened, and often what I thought about the day before.
So, last night I had a dream. It's "inspiration" is clear. Last night there was a very small earthquake here in California. I dreamt of an earthquake...but not a small one. I dreamt of the large, catastrophic earthquake that so many have been warning would come to our state. I am skeptical of this, however (every age has its doomsday-sayers) but I firmly believe in preparedness...which is another issue raised in the dream.
I remember few details, but what I remember is interesting.
There was, as I said, a gigantic and catastrophic earthquake that ravaged California and turned it into a spoilt land. Destroyed buildings and things of every description seemed to be everywhere. The biggest concern to me was a direct result of my own unpreparedness, something that is true in real life.
I had no food stores, and more dangerously, no water stores. This was the big issue; finding clean water. For the most part the state, or at least the region I was attempting to eke a living out of, was for the most part abandoned. I tried to find water for my family (the theme of taking care of my family took mainstage, and it's interesting to note that right now, in real life, that is my main concern as well, something that I'm personally concerned with more than ever before.)
At least some of my family members were present; I know my mother was, and perhaps others. I seem to remember finding small fish to eat, and I think that they may have been associated with the water source I next found myself trying to take advantage of. Nothing more than a very shallow and clearly temporary pool in the rubble, the water I attempted to gather with a canteen or bottle was constantly contaminated with the mud at the bottom that was so easily disturbed. (For some reason we COULD NOT drink this mud.) After a few attempts I was able to gather but little water.
Next, for some reason I found myself consciously looking for some sort of building, a company of some sort perhaps. I found them, and along with my mother I viewed the distant structure with binoculars. A red stripe ran across the top of the building along with bold red letters. Apparently, this place had something we wanted.... Somehow, we got inside and it was a bustle of activity, filled with people, employees or workers of some sort in white jumpsuits I think, moving equipment about and doing all sorts of tasks. I don't know what it was I so desperately wanted, but whatever it was they did not want me to have it (I assume it was something along the lines of water again, or perhaps food). We had snuck into the building in the first place. They were hostile. And with this, the dream apparently ended.
While this may sound like a story out of a science fiction novel, I am not the only person who recognizes the possibility of disasters such as this. Whether or not we have an earthquake here in my homeland, an event of this proportion is not impossible, and historically by no means unheard of. This dream raised several valid issues with the eery sounds of reality.
First, my own unprepared state. I find this an uneasy and unhappy fact now. Lately I have been finding myself more and more aligned with survivalism and preparedness, and when things get back on track in my derailed life I pledge to prepare. I have a family to take care of, and I will allow nothing to get in the way of that.
Second, the desire to see to the well-being of my family. As I said before, this has been put on the forefront of my duties as of late. Of course, I have always been a bulldog when it comes these things. I've always been vicious when it comes to taking care of my own, be it friends or anyone else. I've always been completely serious about defending women, whether I know them or not. It's just that, lately, this unstoppable locomotive residing within me has been more refined and funneled towards the goal of family. It hasn't lost anything in all the other areas, but it's definitely gotten a pinpoint as to family. If I fail to be prepared, my family will be fatally threatened. This is not an option for the warrior.
Third, I was interested to see the realistic aspects of the dream. The lack of food and water of course, the ravaged wasteland, and of particular interest to me was the fact that the mud was somehow dangerous to us. Although the dream did not give the specific feel of it being a hazardous material, the concept of toxic substances is a very real one for such circumstances. Broken sewer lines, the decaying bodies of humans and animals alike, the obvious spread of disease, the lack of maintenance everywhere and things of every description are a clear threat to anyone living in such an apocalyptic world, especially those found unprepared to the point where they must survive merely off of what they find. Of course, attacks from hostile entities must not be ruled out (biological, chemical, or even nuclear), whether or not they caused the disaster in the first place or took advantage of our people's disabled state with an unprovoked strike.
Anything can cause such an event, not just earthquakes or other natural disasters. With possible economic disaster looming, this is on the minds of many of us. Anything from an economic or civil breakdown to a natural disaster or an attack from an enemy could cause this end result. And importantly, we must remember to expect little or no aid from the government. As we saw horrifically illustrated during Hurricane Katrina, the government of the most powerful nation on the earth was unprepared to help its own citizens in the face of a natural disaster. What makes anyone think that they will be more ready the next time, or even if something much more serious occurs, such as a nuclear attack? And, though this may sound unthinkable to some we must acknowledge the possibility that the government may in fact hamper our survival. As fellow blogger gravelbelly solemnly noted, during Hurricane Katrina all firearms, be they lawful or not, were consficated from citizens. Given another event of such proportion or of larger, what makes anyone think they will not do so again? This will seriously impair the ability of survival-minded people from defending themselves and their families from wild animals, lone criminals, or marauding parties looking for food or merely taking advantage of the chaos. And if things are truly dire, what makes anyone think that the stores maintained by survivalists will not be prone to seizure?
Which brings me to my next point.... If this dream was indeed of some value (and I'd like to officially say that I'd be willing to bet that this dream is, like my other dreams, nothing short of nonsensical gibberish--I'm only discussing this out of my own personal interest), this would be the most important point. Who were those in the building with the red insignia? The building seemed untouched by the destruction for the most part, perhaps even being erected after the earthquake. If nothing else, it was being maintaned, unlike everything else.
Who were they?
Well, this possibility did not even occur to me until I was writing this, but.... They were hostile to me and my family. They were hampering our survival, and the survival of any others still living in some way (Hoarding of resources?). They clearly had the means to keep their operation going, whatever it was. And they had no interest in helping those around them. They had a goal, as in a reason to be there, and like busy little bees they worked to the end of that goal...whatever it was.
Were they...our own government?
Spencer
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