Another question from a friend. This time it was, why are there multiple creations of day?

I was asked the question,

“In Genesis chapter one, day and night are separated twice; On day one and again on day four.”

• What was the purpose of this?
• Why was it separated twice?

On day one, we see this.

Then God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light day, and the darkness He called night. And there was evening, and there was morning, one day. (Genesis 1:3-5 NASB)

Day four reads like this.

Then God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years; and let them be for lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth"; and it was so. God made the two great lights, the greater light to govern the day, and the lesser light to govern the night; He made the stars also. God placed them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, and to govern the day and the night, and to separate the light from the darkness, and God saw that it was good. There was evening, and there was morning, a fourth day. (Genesis 1:14-19 NASB)

The person asking me the questions went on to say,

“This leads me to believe that Genesis chapter one is more poetic than literal. So, could there be a gap between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2?”

In trying to understand, I look at specifics, so let's start with the idea of light that we see in Genesis 1:3 through 1:5.

then God said, Let light be! And there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good, and God separated between the light and darkness. And God called the light, Day. And He called the darkness, Night. And there was evening, and there was morning the first day. (Genesis 1:3-5 LITV)

Light, as used here, is the Hebrew word ’ôr (pronounced ore.) The Strong's concordance tells us this word means illumination or luminary. The Complete Word Study Dictionary explains the word ’ôr in this manner, "In a literal sense, it is used primarily to refer to light from heavenly bodies."

We, tend to see these luminaries as the milky way, that is, if you can still, see them.

The passage reads differently, depending upon the translation. The NET Bible, like some others, put the word day in quotation marks, almost as if it was a word inserted for understanding, much like the italicized words we find commonly in the King James version.

God called the light "day" and the darkness "night." There was evening, and there was morning, marking the first day. (Genesis 1:5 NET.)

Day is the Hebrew word yôm: It is a masculine noun meaning a day, an unrestrained period of time, or, a year. This word stands as the most basic conception of time in the Old Testament.

It designates such wide-ranging elements as:

• the daylight hours from sunrise to sunset (Gen_1:5; 1Ki_19:4);
• a literal twenty-four hour cycle (Deu_16:8; 2Ki_25:30);
• a generic span of time ( Numbers 20:15);
• a given point in time (Gen_2:17; Gen_47:29; Eze_33:12).
• In the plural, the word may also mean the span of life (Psa_102:3 [4])
• or a year (Lev_25:29; 1Sa_27:7).
• The prophets often infuse the word with end-times meanings or connotations, using it in connection with a future period of consequential events, such as the "day of the LORD" (Jer_46:10; Zec_14:1) or simply, "that day" (Isa_19:23; Zec_14:20-21). [Word Study Dictionary]

In short, what we are calling a day can be an indeterminate amount of time.

The variable that determines the length of the said day is associations with another word or words, such as hot; and, we have nothing like that when we look at Genesis 1:3-5. What we have is merely a lighter and darker period, which we can easily associate with the rotation of the earth.

To keep this verse in context, I have to back up to Genesis chapter 1:1, 2.

There we find:

Genesis 1:1 CJB  In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.

In this sentence, the word “the” is an additive. The idea is understood and not needed. So the verse could be read, “In beginning.” That gives the verse the feeling that it was a process that is yet to be completed. God was is not a fool, and knew sin would be introduced; He also knew that the most precious thing, that relationship with His creation would be severely tested - not that God needs to test man, but that humanity would lose out on its understanding of God, and what it was to communicate with Him – not that it is difficult, but in our lack of honesty and straightforwardness, we struggle to talk with God. Anyhow, all this carnage needed to be permanently put away, and that is the story behind this salvation in Jesus and the Bible that made it possible for us to know such salvation

Now, God does nothing by mistake and so Genesis 1:1 could clearly be describing His act of speaking a flawless world into existence. However, God has the right and opportunity to allow for numerous methods and aspects of creation to happen. We have an example of this in that the oceans brought forth after their kind, this opens the door to a myriad of possibilities, including some forms of evolution. (That was not the case with humankind.)

The prophet Isaiah backs up this idea of the earth being made correctly at the moment that He made it.

Isaiah 45:18 CJB  For thus says Adonai, who created the heavens, God, who shaped and made the earth, who established and created it not to be chaos, but formed it to be lived in: "I am Adonai; there is no other.

However, that is not what we see in verse 2.

Genesis 1:2 CJB  The earth was unformed and void, darkness was on the face of the deep, and the Spirit of God hovered over the surface of the water.

Many translations use the phrase “without form and void,” to describe the setting in verse three. The word unformed, or “without form” is the Hebrew word tôhû meaning to lie in waste, formless, or confusion. 

Void is the Hebrew word bôhû which means emptiness, void, and waste. To say these words together implies that whatever the damage was, it was complete.

Is it possible that Genesis 1:3-5 is God's reclamation of a previously created earth?

Absolutely, but why? The only reasonable explanation came from Jesus's mouth. Yeshua said to them,

"I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. (Luke 10:18 CJB)

While we have nothing else that might explain how something that was made inhabitable became utterly ruined, and all we can do is to operate on reasonable conjecture, but our theory, in this case, is logical. Why? Because we are aware of significant meteoric earth strikes, such as the one in Yucatan peninsula. Science has been able to reproduce for us estimates of the size of the meteor and the effects it had on the earth – rapid cooling; sun blockage; planetary temperature reduction; lack of oxygen, and it effectively created what we understand to be a nuclear winter; an ice age. If this reclamation concept is not possible, then how do we explain or answer your question.

Since there are no defining words that include the sun in Genesis 1:3-5, as we will see on the fourth day, the general idea is that stars are in place, but not much more.

The Fourth Day.

Verse four indicates a separation of the light from the dark; here, the Hebrew word is bâdal and means to divide or separate into parts, or, to withdraw from. This separation of the luminous bodies opens the door to God moving the undefined luminaries around so that some would be closer than others. As I am writing this, it occurs me that the milky way could easily be proof of such an event, as it can only be seen during a window of opportunity.

And by the way, in verses 3-5, there is no humankind on earth as yet.

We have no time frame with which we can associate the actions of verses 1 and 2 and therefore should not speculate as to how much time may have passed between the potential events; this is where you get tend to encounter harsh hostility, as people argue for a young earth of about 10,000 years. I happen to think this is irrational thinking because you cannot explain away a dinosaur with time acceleration.

The fourth day entails the events ranging from Genesis 1:14 through 1:19.

Genesis 1:14-19 CJB  God said, "Let there be lights in the dome of the sky to divide the day from the night; let them be for signs, seasons, days and years;  (15)  and let them be for lights in the dome of the sky to give light to the earth"; and that is how it was.  (16)  God made the two great lights—the larger light to rule the day and the smaller light to rule the night—and the stars.  (17)  God put them in the dome of the sky to give light to the earth,  (18)  to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness; and God saw that it was good.  (19)  So there was evening, and there was morning, a fourth day.

Now we have something specific to focus on:

• “a larger light for the day.” (This now puts the sun into a timed category.)
• “a smaller light to rule the night.” (The moon.)
  The sun and moon affect weather, temperature, gravitational pull, and seasonal effects.
• “lights that can be used as signs of seasonal changes, and for years.” (The sun, moon, and stars fit that description.)

From Genesis 1:3 until Genesis 1:14-19, we have nothing to indicate that the effects that we see, could have happened in verse 3. And, we cannot prove or disprove that the earth, in Genesis 1:1, was not functioning at full capacity. However, verse 2 would indicate that it all came to a sudden and crashing halt.

Again, my short answer is, YES, I see a gap between verse one and two of Genesis chapter 1.

Seals, trumpets, and bowls. An attempt to understand what is about to happen as God's wrath gets poured out.

I meant to make a chronological outline to describe the judgments of God that begin in Revelation 6. This somewhat detailed description of the first seal is what you get.

I am one of those people who always wanted to understand end times events (Eschatology), but the explanations I received almost exclusively used King James English, which only helped to cloud the answers or they were thinking about events based upon traditional teachings, [Consider that I was born in the early 1950s. The world I grew up in was shaking in their boots over the potential of a nuclear war with Russia. Part of the evidence for that thinking and fear was that Russia had placed missiles, which we all assumed were nuclear weapons, on Cuban soil – Cuba was a Russian ally then, and still is.] Russia, and the Roman Catholic church, then, as almost every prophecy teacher thought, played some role in end times prophecy, and they would go to extremes to show you the listener why.

Something for your consideration.

Islam came on the scene about 670 AD after Muhammad received his direction and guidance from an “angel named Daniel” who choked him nigh unto death, as the angel convinced Muhammad to follow his instructions.

As many of you know from experience and history, Islam has done nothing but slaughter people and grow in power; that is, until 1924 when the Ottoman Caliphate was crushed by the British (with a bit of help,) made illegal, forced to separate, and disbanded. 

What most of us fail to realize is that Islam never went away, and factions, under the banner of the Muslim Brotherhood, continued to thrive using Egypt as its base. In 1979 the US embassy in Iran was captured, and the Americans there were taken hostage for over a year. This event though called many things - such as the Islamic awakening. An Ayatollah, named Khomeini once again ruled Iran; and, it was now under a Caliphate once again. None of us here in the United States understood the ramifications of this event. During that year as hostages America was coming up on a presidential election; then-President Jimmy Carter had to face California Governor Ronald Reagan for the Presidency. What most people don’t realize, is that Ronald Reagan, the former actor, played several cowboy roles, and since old cowboy movies, with Farsi voice-overs, were the staple in Middle Eastern movie houses, the Iranians, and Muslims everywhere, feared the no-nonsense cowboy style which drew first and shot, then asked questions later. Within days of President Reagan’s election, the American hostages were released. 

As fortunate as the release of hostages was, something had changed forever, as Islam began the slow, tedious process of taking over the world once again. Why Eschatology teachers refused to look at relatively NEW evidence, such as the Islamic revolt, and old evidence that Josephus and Tacitus brought us about how it was Assyrians (ancestors of the Muslims) that brought about the destruction of the temple in 70 AD. Yes, as conscripted troops they operated under the Roman banner, but Josephus tells us that Titus, upon learning of their actions, attempted to stop them from destroying the temple.

Well that was a bit more than I expected, and it is not exactly where our study is going, but perhaps it helps to direct your thinking about the possible pool of contenders for the role of Antichrist as we go on.

As a lead into Revelation chapter 6, you need to know that at this point in the chronology, the church has been removed from the Earth.

The idea of the church being removed from the Earth is comprehensive, and should not be presumed to mean everyone. Pay attention to what Matthew told us, as it applies.

     Matthew 7:21 NASB "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father, who is in heaven, will enter.

What that means specifically, I am not sure, but here is one more example to confuse you – the parable of the ten virgins.

    Matthew 25:1-13 NASB "Then the kingdom of heaven will be comparable to ten virgins, who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. (2) "Five of them were foolish, and five were prudent. (3) "For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, (4) but the prudent took oil in flasks along with their lamps. (5) "Now, while the bridegroom was delaying, they all got drowsy and began to sleep. (6) "But at midnight there was a shout, 'Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.' (7) "Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps. (8) "The foolish said to the prudent, 'Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.' (9) "But the prudent answered, 'No, there will not be enough for us and you too; go instead to the dealers and buy some for yourselves.' (10) "And while they were going away to make the purchase, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding feast; and the door was shut. (11) "Later the other virgins also came, saying, 'Lord, lord, open up for us.' (12) "But he answered, 'Truly I say to you, I do not know you.' (13) "Be on the alert then, for you do not know the day nor the hour.

Obviously, there is a problem here. One might reasonably assume that the virgins represent the church, but if that is the case, then 50% of the “church” will miss the rapture (Many would preach a message like this for the purpose of motivating you through fear. I don't see a need for that type of motivation, but I do want you motivated.) Does that mean that half of the church is going to hell? I don't think so, but it would mean that they will have to endure the wrath that God is almost simultaneously going to start pouring out upon the earth and its inhabitants, including Israel, for rejecting Jesus and his sacrifice paid on their behalf.

You need to understand something.

What is coming upon the earth is WRATH. However, Jesus took all the wrath that our sin demanded, upon Himself. Those of us who have accepted His sacrifice – of His life and body, are deemed to be “in Him,” and therefore, no longer subject to God’s wrath. God’s wrath is the time period we mistakenly call the tribulation. Sure, there is a point within this time, in which it is said, the tribulation will be so great that unless God intervenes, and He does, that NO ONE would survive; but that is all under God’s wrath. Jesus told us that tribulation of various shapes, sizes, and pains would be a constant aspect of our lives as believers. Why? Because Satan sees us targets that look like Jesus and is trying to kill us.

On that note, let's dive into Revelation chapter 6.
Seals; Trumpets, and Bowls. God's wrath upon the Earth.

God’s wrath is contained within, seven seals, the seventh of which opens the seven trumpets. The seventh trumpet, like the seals, begins the seven bowl judgments. The bowl judgments, like hot tar being poured out, covers the Earth, and everyone is affected.

To get a context, Revelation chapter four opens with after these things. Since chapter three ends with the Laodicean church – the last church age, then the admonition, “after these things” primarily means the end of the church age; and, the beginning of the time of wrath and the migration into the millennial reign of Christ.

In Revelation chapter five, John sees a scroll, sealed with seven seals, and the awareness that no one is worthy to open the seals; that is until Yahshua comes on the scene. When He does it is not as the powerful king that He is, it is as the slain Lamb, the one who paid the price for us.

Jesus takes the scroll and opens the first seal. (This event and the character it unleashes is the first thing the world experiences after the rapture of the church. Keep in mind that what is released with each opening is an aspect of God’s wrath, nothing less.)

With the scroll now open, what is the first thing we see?

    Then I saw when the Lamb broke one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures saying as with a voice of thunder, "Come." I looked, and behold, a white horse, and he who sat on it had a bow; and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer. (Revelation 6:1-2 NASB)

This rider on a white horse with a bow in his hand is nothing less than the Antichrist.

Many have interpreted the bow as the gospel of Christ, but it is not. What did I say about the time period? It is a time of God's wrath, and God, quite frequently, uses people to help carry out His plans; this is no different.

One more thing to consider, since Satan never made anything original, why would he start now, and this white horse scenario is nothing more than a copy of God’s intent and plan. We need to look at Revelation 19:11.

     Revelation 19:11 NASB And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness, He judges and wages war.

Jesus is the only one who is “faithful and true,” and, He is finally here to end the nonsense.

One of the names of the Antichrist is the beast, so watch what happens.

     Revelation 19:19-20 NASB (19) And I saw the beast and the kings of the Earth and their armies assembled to make war against Him who sat on the horse and against His army. (20) And the beast was seized, and with him, the false prophet who performed the signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image; these two were thrown alive into the lake of fire which burns with brimstone.

So, there is no doubt that this guys reign of terror comes to an end.

What do we know about the Antichrist? A majority of our information will come from Daniel's prophecies.
 

     Daniel 8:23-24 NASB "In the latter period of their rule, When the transgressors have run their course, A king will arise, Insolent and skilled in intrigue. (24) "His power will be mighty, but not by his own power, And he will destroy to an extraordinary degree And prosper and perform his will; He will destroy mighty men and the holy people.

• An insolent king will arise.

Insolent is the Hebrew word ‛az and means strong, mighty, fierce. There is no mistake about this, this man is serious trouble, and should not be perceived in any other way.

• “skilled in intrigue.”

Intrigue is the Hebrew word chı̂ydâh and means riddle, difficult question, parable, enigmatic saying or question, perplexing saying or question. Most of us who experienced the Obama administration would probably define it as one of intrigue, as his spokespeople talked in riddles and perplexing sayings. It is out of these ramblings that we got the costly and useless nuclear arms deal with Iran; a deal that is now haunting us under the Trump administration.

He will make a treaty with many. 

     Daniel 9:27 NASB "And he will make a firm covenant with the many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering; and on the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate, even until a complete destruction, one that is decreed, is poured out on the one who makes desolate."

The passages about the "treaty" say absolutely nothing about Israel, and we should not assume that Israel will gain anything by this treaty.
My opinion: It is commonly understood that Islam only calls for peace treaties to reload their weapons, and this will be no different.

• One week, in Biblical speak, equals seven years.

What a coincidence, as seven years is the length of time that God's wrath upon the earth is supposed to last.

• A firm covenant with many is nothing less than a realignment under the guise of a peace treaty. (Keep in mind that accords are most often made amid warfare.)

But do you see Israel's name in there? Nope.

• “in the middle of the week he will break this covenant of peace, and put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering;”

There is something blatantly evident in this statement. This guy suddenly has the control and ability to stop temple sacrifices in Jerusalem. The implication is that Israel is, to some degree, overrun, and the invading force is allowing them to function in the rebuilt temple.

But what if there is something else that is restraining this insolent king from this kind of takeover? Oh, there is.

     Revelation 11:3-12 NASB (3) "And I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for twelve hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth." (4) These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth. (5) And if anyone wants to harm them, fire flows out of their mouth and devours their enemies; so if anyone wants to harm them, he must be killed in this way. (6) These have the power to shut up the sky, so that rain will not fall during the days of their prophesying; and they have power over the waters to turn them into blood, and to strike the earth with every plague, as often as they desire. (7) When they have finished their testimony, the beast that comes up out of the abyss will make war with them, and overcome them and kill them. (8) And their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city which mystically is called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified. (9) Those from the peoples and tribes and tongues and nations will look at their dead bodies for three and a half days, and will not permit their dead bodies to be laid in a tomb. (10) And those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them and celebrate, and they will send gifts to one another because these two prophets tormented those who dwell on the earth. (11) But after the three and a half days, the breath of life from God came into them, and they stood on their feet; and great fear fell upon those who were watching them. (12) And they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, "Come up here." Then they went up into heaven in the cloud, and their enemies watched them.

Does the Antichrist have a bitter end? Oh, absolutely.

     Revelation 19:19-20 NASB (19) And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies assembled to make war against Him who sat on the horse and against His army. (20) And the beast was seized, and with him, the false prophet who performed the signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image; these two were thrown alive into the lake of fire which burns with brimstone.

 With this, we will end the look into the first seal.

I was told by the Holy Spirit to share a very disturbing dream with you.

I am going to take a risk and give you a brief look into the window of my life. Perhaps this will demonstrate to you how I got to be who I am, and why.

Experience has shown me that being vulnerable like this does not always work out the way I hope, as some people will not understand, others will criticize, and there are always those who merely see people like me as weak, and someone who needs to be taken out of the gene pool. I call this process, being a sacrificial lamb. I do it because there are far too few who are willing to open and honest about the pains and tribulations of this life. We have this stupid saying - what doesn't kill you, makes you stronger. That probably works best in a gym, but there are events in life that can cripple you, and the reality is, it may take you years to get over the damage.

That being said, let's get on with it.

Disclaimer - this post is not for children or immature minds.

Having said that, I want to tell you about a dream I had recently.
Get your minds out of the gutter because we are NOT going there, however, I will talk as plainly and openly as I am comfortable.

As a teen, my sex education mainly came from my peers. One of those peers was a part of the Danish family who moved into the house across the street. That boy's father posted Playboy pinups from the late 1960s, on the walls of the garage; it also happened to be where the train set was. The train set was elaborate, with mountains, tunnels, and a small city that we worked on regularly; but then, there were the Playmates pinned to the walls.

As I look back and try to determine some of the times and events in which Satan and his band of demons/fallen angels might have got their hooks into me, this was undoubtedly one of them. There were other introductions to pornography from other sources, but I can assure you that none of them gave me an appropriate perspective of what reality is like, nor did it teach me how to be intimate with a woman.

So when I got married for the first time, not only was I a virgin, but I married a woman who had already done several laps around the block and had, unbeknownst to me, great expectations of how I should perform. The short of it, I could never live up to her expectations, and, she had no interest in teaching. Therefore, she went looking for greener grass on two occasions, and I only had enough grace in me to tolerate one of those excursions on her part.

A few things I need you to know.

• Religion can be nothing short of evil at times, and religious teachings were passed along that made sex seem like everything you were doing, even if it was with your own spouse, seem dirty. Distorted information will mess with your mind, and I walked away from that first marriage thinking that I was damaged and unable to perform. So, don’t get me wrong and stay away sane people at church, merely keep them out of your bedroom.

• People, along with the help of demons, will try to cripple you. I will give some of these people the benefit of the doubt, and say that I do not believe their intent was not to damage or disable, but it was certainly meant to serve as control and restraint techniques. I say that with the background understanding that we - the church, tend to preach hell, fire, and brimstone, much like Television Evangelist Jimmy Swaggart used to do; and yet, two of his massive failures came through his usage of prostitutes. How odd that those who often scream the loudest about sin, do so because they are struggling the most. That crippling effect made its way into my sex life and my mind. Simply put, I have struggled with self-esteem for as long as I can remember, and the primary thing that has helped to overcome the struggles associated with poor self-esteem has been an intense relationship with Jesus Christ.

When I got involved with a woman for the second time, it was like night and day. The emotional strain that I continuously lived with during the first marriage was gone. This lady liked sex, and she let me know it. Sex was something her and I could communicate about, and the reality and understanding of Hebrews 13:4 became a reality.

"Honor marriage, and guard the sacredness of sexual intimacy between wife and husband. God draws a firm line against casual and illicit sex." (Hebrews 13:4 MSG)

To be honest, I used the Message translation as it reflected what my heart wanted to tell you. The reality is, we often heard the KJV quoted, and it reads like this:

"Marriage is honorable in all, and the bed undefiled …"

My take away from the KJV was that what we did in our bedroom was fine in God's eyes.
(As long as there was agreement. Although the first wife never expressed much, aside from the fact that she did not want to make a baby with me. The second only said no to one thing, and I honored that – as I thought doing that was disgusting anyway.)

I am not kidding you when I say, an evangelist, who came to a church I was attending, said, you are sinning if you cannot see your wife's eyes. It is odd how you occasionally remember something after such an extended period of time. Perhaps this is simply evidence that everything we get involved in stays permanently emblazoned somewhere in our minds, including pornography.

So, now that I have told you a little of what makes me tick, what about that dream?

In the dream, I was once again about 35 and married to the second wife, the woman who enjoyed sex. Note: I am currently married to the third wife.

This irritating dream went on for hours and having got up in the middle of the night at one point, I thought, good, this stupid dream should come to an end. It did not, it merely got worse.
The wife said to me, I want to have sex that is over the top, and so I want to do a threesome, and she named off a person I know. Needless to say, I was appalled. I stuttered and stammered, but worst of all, I DID NOT SAY NO. Nothing happened.

As the dream progressed, she was driving the car and as we drove past some apartments, she said, we will be having sex with the couple that lives there, and she pointed to a specific apartment. I felt like I had been slugged in the gut, and again I am not saying NO. I had asked the wife how many sexual diseases could we get out of this endeavor; to this, she replied, only one that I know of. My head was screaming, are you crazy, but again, my mouth was saying nothing.

I have come to realize that dreams are often mixed with reality, and the truth was that she and I enjoyed sex immensely, so I could not understand where this was all coming from. The sick side of this was that my mind was toying with the idea, and my tendency to act out of co-dependency was clearly disrupting everything I stand for.

(I don't know if you realize it or not, but we are living in a world where people who have moral standards are, in some cases, brutally attacked.)

In the dream, some time passes, and we are now at a dinner party where most, if not all, of the people at this party, are from “the church." Their faces have come from a multitude of places in my life, but the PASTOR who was there in the room is one that I have physically had some interactions with over the years. (As a disclaimer, he has never been my Pastor, but I know him.)

Here, at this dinner party, my wife continues to push what should be called, a swingers club, where we will go to a different home each week and exchange partners for the evening, or maybe just all crawl into one big bed. Everything in me is screaming NO; and, the feeling that I was toying with was, I don't care if you are my wife or not, get out of our house. But again, I say nothing.

The Pastor at the party is now trying to motivate us all to take part in this sexual transaction and speaking highly of its benefits. There was a reference made to a tall, thin, older woman with gray hair; she, we were told, had excessive amounts of money, and how if we entertain her, we might get some of it.
(The realistic side of this person with money, is that some family members recently moved back to an inlaws home, with the sole purpose of being able to collect money from a man they don't care for. So, Satan used an additional monetary ploy to keep me hooked into the dream. We all have our weaknesses, and the enemy knows you too well. He will use those weaknesses against you.)

At the dinner party, almost immediately, one couple, although it was notable that it was primarily the woman, loudly said NO. She told her hesitant husband to get up, and out the door, they went. Another couple that we knew had refused to come to the meeting because of its theme.
Then the Pastor aggressively started verbally pushing me to agree.

Finally, regardless of who I offended, I shouted NO, very loudly; launched myself away from the table, and left the room in a rush, without my wife.

Things, aside from the obvious, that spoke to me.

1. I have lived for far too long in co-dependency. Co-dependency is where you allow the feelings of others to control how you think and feel, and this painful dream was mired in it.
2. When I was younger, I had a book called When I say NO, I feel guilty. I may never get past feeling that way, but I am getting better at it all the time. I almost wish I could wear a shirt that says, “I am telling you - when I said no, I meant it.” "So, if you push me, trying to get me to cave to whatever the nonsense is, I may take the anger level up to at least a seven on the rage scale, and at level seven, the angry, green monster is coming out."
3. There is a more profound, more sickening thing going on here. For most of my life, I have caved to peer pressure and not stood my ground; especially where my own moral standards are concerned. And, there was a strong sense of disgust as I realized that I was entertaining thoughts of relinquishing my moral standard merely to comply with a wife that enjoyed sex. You see, what we did, as a couple, in our bedroom, was our business, but what she was asking for moved into the realm of perversion, and that is not happening in my world.

Needless to say, I woke up in a rage.


Immediately the Holy Spirit began speaking to me about determination, commitment; and my right to say NO.

If you know me, then you understand that I despise religion. Religion, although having some benefits, has done little more than put me in bondage and fear; and the "approved" teachers filled my head with false and misleading information. Because of this, my understanding of God and His Son were damaged. I had to make a determined effort to throw all those twisted notions aside, and rebuild, based entirely upon scripture, my understanding of who God and His son was. Because of those efforts, I see myself as someone who found Jesus. And guess what else I found? Jesus is just like His Father - loving, merciful, and full of compassion.

Shortly after having had the disgusting dream, I watched a trailer, for a video about Iranian followers of Christ, which are mostly women. They have an understanding, that once they walk out the door of their homes that day, they may never come back because they may be grabbed and made to disappear. This gets especially ugly for the women, as capture almost always means that they are to be raped, beaten, and then killed by some convenient form.

If you are not aware of what is going on in the world, then you are like the Ostrich which buries it's head in the sand, hoping that the trouble will simply go away. It is NOT going away, and our time here on earth is growing short; the tribulations and fiery trials will only increase. True, we the church are holding back the Antichrist from coming on full force, but the day will come when the church is taken out of here, and the onslaught will become unbearable and unsurpassed in its horror.


How will you stand during that time that is coming if you have no backbone now?