Two prophetic dreams with an insight into the spiritual battle we are engaged in.

I have never written before upon the subject of a particular dream that I have been given by the Lord, at least not except in the form of my own private journaling.

However, I have decided to make the exception here as I believe that the nature of the dream which I received last night has a significance that is applicable and I trust helpful to others across the wider body of Christ.

For those who are already acquainted with the language of hearing God through dreams, this will be a concept that is not unfamiliar to you.

However, for others who may be less well acquainted with the whole concept of hearing God through dreams, I ask that you read on with an open heart and mind, for we do not dictate to the Lord the ways in which He chooses to communicate with His children.

Indeed history is replete with individuals who have received dreams from God, and in Church history, there are countless examples of those down the ages who have heard God's voice through the means of being given a spiritual dream, for God is sovereign and we are not.

In Job chapter 33 vs14-19 we read,

"For God does speak now one way now another, though man may not perceive it.

In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls on men as they slumber in their beds, he may speak in their ears and terrify them with warnings, to turn man from wrongdoing and keep him from pride, to preserve his soul from the pit, his life from perishing by the sword."

We are told here in this portion of scripture in Job, that dreams which come from the Lord are instructive and the issue, when God does speak to us, is far more one of, "Are we listening to what He is saying"?

Do we perceive it as His instruction for our lives?

For my own part when I do have a dream that I know is from the Lord, it is usually concerning something in the immediate future, to give to me a greater understanding of His heart and will in the matter which I am being shown.

Often I may not receive another dream for several months on end, occasionally I may receive a couple in a single night, but that is rare.

In my dream last night, (February 24th, 2023), I was present in a large room which was a public Christian meeting.

Upon the stage, there were speakers, one of whom was a well-known sports celebrity whom I know to have a nominal faith in a certain historical denomination of the Christian church.

Suddenly into the meeting there approached very ominous figures, men who were coming in twos, and had their faces completely covered with black hoods on.

They were very threatening, having a murderous spirit, and as they approached the front of the meeting the individual who was speaking suddenly lost all his composure to momentarily betray a real fear and intimidation in his eyes. I knew that at this point he was not entirely sure of what their intentions were, and in the threat which they posed to him.

I saw how they had come here by the sea like the Vikings of old in long boats traveling a great distance.

At this point, I left the meeting, keenly aware of the deadly threat but also aware that if I was to die it would not be in a place like this, or for a meeting such as this one.

I went out to seek the help of the police and was now in a large throng of people like in a public mall, however, no police could be found.

When I returned to the meeting it had changed and was much smaller with essentially just a couple of the leaders conversing one with another.

However, I also knew that the threat was real and still remained, that contact had been made by this enemy, and therefore the intimidation was still a threat.

When I awoke I had the word "Ishtar" in my mind and a knowing that this was the nature of the evil principality that was present in the dream.

I was vaguely familiar with the term knowing that it was quoted somewhere in the old testament but did not know precisely where, however after looking up the reference to this I discovered that the mention of one called "the queen of heaven" in Jeremiah chapter 7 vs19, is commonly thought by scholars to be referring to this pagan deity who was revered and worshiped by the Syrians and by the Babylonians also, (and tragically by many in Israel when they were in their apostate state)

In researching further I discovered that this ancient pagan deity was a goddess with a particular association with sexual immorality and perversion, worshipped by the Mesopotamians, Babylonians, and Syrians. It was also associated with war. (This would explain the murderous rage I felt in these entities in the dream)

Listen to this quote from an article in Wikipedia; "Worshipped as the mistress of heaven, Ishtar represented the power of sexual attraction and was thought to be savage and determined." it was particularly this savage violence which I saw in my dream.

It is worth noting also that the Ishtar gate is an architectural gate that was built and dedicated to this ancient pagan idol by king Nebuchadnezzar, forming part of the route to an annual procession of pagan worship in the ancient city of Babylon. It is also worth noting that a german archaeologist, Robert Koldewey, led the excavation of this site just before the outbreak of the first world war, which led to the rebuilding of an exact replica of this gate, (using the original bricks imported from the site in Babylon) in the city of Berlin in 1930. It was three years later that Adolf Hitler and the nazi party suddenly and against all the odds came to power, (remember that one of the identities of this pagan god was she was worshipped as a goddess of war)

The next day as I recounted this dream to my wife, she reminded me of a dream that she had written down which she was given on Sunday 4th of September last year (2022) which was strikingly similar.

In her dream, she was walking in a public area with lots of buildings and streets intersecting and there was a carnival atmosphere. My wife knew that this was representing the Church.

As she was walking along, she, as well as all the others, could see darkly clad figures, all dressed in black approaching in the broad daylight, yet as by stealth, and yet there was no alarm or fear or concern about any of those who were approaching, the carnival atmosphere simply continued.

The dark figures disappeared into various side rooms to cover themselves and conceal themselves with blankets and black tarpaulins until they were completely hidden from sight.

At this point, my wife now knew that these stealth-like figures were completely hidden waiting until an opportune time to strike the Church. My wife could not understand why the Church was not more aware of the danger or preparing itself. Instead, the carnival atmosphere continued unabated.

It is important for me to say at this point that there was another dream given to my wife that same night in which she saw that Charles was the king and our queen was standing beside her true King, who is Christ.

It was a powerful dream but I will not go into the details other than to say that this was on the 4th of September exactly four days before the queen passed away and Charles became the king by succession. No one knew that the queen was imminently about to die at this point, at least within the wider public, but the Lord knew and gave this in part, I believe, as a confirmation so that the first part of her dream may also be seen as true, and reliable.

Both my wife's dream of Sept 4th and my dream of last night are, I believe, a warning from the Holy Spirit that there is a real and imminent threat that has invaded the Church yet many are carrying on with business as usual, and not discerning the spirit behind this real danger that is at work by stealth to bring destruction.

Why am I recounting these two dreams?

Because I believe that it is not a coincidence that both dreams revealed the same threat, and manifested the same danger, but from different perspectives.

I also believe that it is important for us to remember that the battle that is currently raging for purity and historic biblical and moral boundary lines in much of the Church is not essentially against flesh and blood but against principalities and powers and rulers of the darkness of this age, wicked spirits in the heavenly places.

We are exhorted by the Apostle Paul in Ephesians chapter 6 to,

"Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand in the evil day and having done all to stand." Ephesians 6 vs 13-20

This is a day for the Church to stand, not to be asleep, to be vigilant and not ignorant of the schemes of the evil one, not to be distracted and deceived.

It is a time for us to be, "Praying always with every kind of prayer," not consumed with plans and programs of our own carnal wisdom and human strength.

It is a time for us to put on the whole armor of God which the Holy Spirit has provided us with, in this battle with evil forces.

Why write about these experiences (something which I am not entirely comfortable doing), and more importantly how do I believe that they ought to be interpreted?

I believe that both of these dreams represent a warning that was giving a measure of insight into the spiritual battle that we are currently fighting in the Church at this present time. It is a battle to corrupt and pervert the purity and the simplicity of our devotion to Christ.

It is an attempt from our enemy the devil (and so far he has been largely successful in his attempts) to remove the ancient moral boundary lines from our society by seeking to deceive many in the Church.

In doing so he is opening a door for great deception on the earth and for wickedness to prosper.

Whilst this battle is raging from the boardroom to the classroom, from the old to the young, without distinction, I also believe that it is most especially the youth and the children of this generation that satan is targeting to seek to destroy their lives.

Make no mistake the Lord is arising in our day and there is coming a great release of the Holy Spirit, especially upon many of the youth, and of our children, and a harvest of extraordinary measure and scope is coming before the Lord comes again (Could what we are seeing at the Asbury awakening that is reaching to other campuses and sparking a longing for revival in many across the nations be the first beginnings of this?)

The Lord is about to arise upon a people, His glory is about to be seen, and there is a remnant, a radiant bride arising across the nations of the earth.

In the two dreams, this demonic principality came to murder, it has violence and hatred in its heart (and so will those who are under its control) against those who will expose and will resist its evil agenda.

"For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ." 2 Corinthians 10: 3-5.

Remember that our weapons, the weapons with which we fight, are not carnal because we are not ultimately fighting against flesh and blood foes, but our weapons are mighty through God and in Christ to the pulling down of strongholds including the narrative of lies that is being promoted and sown into the hearts of this younger generation on the issues of their identity and gender and human sexuality.

We will not win this battle by mere human arguments, neither by giving in to fear, but rather by bold proclamation of the truth and by fervent prayer.

The weapons with which we fight are the proclamation of the truth out of a radiant heart filled with the love of God.

The dream represents also, I believe, an understanding that a lot of the visible outward Church structures, which currently are very public, but which are wineskins that are built upon forms and systems of men, are not going to be able to stand and to withstand the evil of this day.

They will falter and they will acquiesce to it. However there is a remnant, though smaller, a bride, prepared by God in the wilderness, who will come forth in our time, and even though the dragon rages, and spews forth violence and enmity from its mouth, he will not be able to prevail against the woman, the manchild, this remnant, a bride prepared by God in a hidden place. (Rev 12)

I am aware that any teaching of a remnant is often fiercely contested and seen by some as an elitist and divisive doctrine. It certainly can be and has been taught like that and should never be, for rightly understood this is an invitation to all who will have ears to hear and eyes to see.

It is a calling to become part of a people who will be a bride who has made herself ready (Rev 19), and that means coming out to the Lord in wholeheartedness, and not accommodating ourselves to the tolerating spirit of this wicked age, or accepting the religious systems of men that are built upon the wisdom and carnal thoughts of man, rather than being a people who are contending to become the dwelling place of God in the spirit.

It means that we need to have, like the tribe of the sons of Issachar in the time of King David, a spirit of discernment to know and understand the times in which we are living, and to know what the Lord would have us to do. It means, also, that we are sensitive to listen to the Holy Spirit's voice, knowing His divine council in our lives, and following His leading moment by moment, and day by day.

It means also that we seek to see the Lord establishing His government in the Church through those whom He has appointed and established, true leaders not appointed by men, that is by man's will or men's decree. Rather those who are vessels in His hands through whom He can and will flow mightily in His life.

It means that we are no longer willing to accept self-appointed or man-appointed leaders who are unable to hear God's voice, to recognize the urgency of the present hour, or lead with godly and wise counsel which comes from the Spirit of God.

In the dream, my desire to seek help in the public space (by seeking to find the police and alert them, and failing to do so) symbolizes I believe, that the police not being present represented the absence of truth,equity and justice and a restraint of evil in much of our society today,as truth lies fallen in the streets. It is to the Lord as the Righteous Judge that we must make our appeal,before the Throne of Grace.

He who is the Ancient of Days,still listens to the cries of the righteous in the earth,and will render a verdict in favour of the saints who cry out for justice both day and night.

This refined remnant that I believe is being raised up across the nations, a warrior bride, may well be the only hope for our nations because the Lord Himself will dwell in her, and triumph over the enemy through her in this time.

So what is the significance of these dreams?

There are many who are aware today that we stand at the brink of a third world war, never has peace been so tenuous across so many nations as it is today.

That is combined with this transgender madness, the perversion and perverse ideology that is being aggressively promoted across so much of society and which corrupt governments are seeking to legalize and enforce by wicked laws.

This is being done with a real hatred and rage towards those who say "no" to it.

Let us understand that this ancient spirit is rising again, and the evil that we are facing is not simply an evil ideology but a spiritual battle with an ancient principality.

It is the Church's calling to be the pillar and bulwark of truth in this world, a city on a hill that all can see. It is the Church that is to be a refuge to the oppressed, a shelter to the weary, and a place where the captives can find deliverance and true freedom.

We must stand our ground, and not acquiesce to its present darkness.

Let us not carry on in a party, carnival spirit, with a mindset of "fun, food, and fellowship", only concerned with how we can better reach the culture around us.

Let us be sober as in the day, awake, and warriors prepared for this, our greatest battle.

The word of God to us in this present hour is, I truly believe,

"Awake, Awake, put on your strength O Zion, put on your beautiful garments O Jerusalem, the beautiful city. For the uncircumcised and the unclean shall no longer come to you. Shake yourself from the dust, arise, sit down O Jerusalem, loose yourself from the bonds of your neck,O captive daughter of Zion." Isaiah 52 vs1-2 Amen and amen.