The Echo and The Source Code

Dream date, 3rd May 2023. Dream title, ‘The Echo’.

In the dream, I was sitting at a board table next to the CEO of a company. I didn't know what the company was or what my job role was either. I was wearing a suit and the boardroom was full with all the seats occupied. The CEO looked at the group to try and find out what my job was. They did not know either, and I remember trying to figure out the same thing. The position obviously seemed quite important and so I thought to try and work out something for me to do that would impact the company. After the meeting, I went to my seat which was positioned around a larger square desk. Everyone else was seated around the same table. We all had a drawer in front of us. I opened my drawer to see if I could find a clue as to why I was there. The drawer was completely empty, which just added to my perplexity. I went to speak to the CEO saying simply that changes had to be made in the office. Everyone should try and walk around and standing up is an aid to stimulate the mind. "It was proven by science,” I remarked. I then went outside for some fresh air. I was sitting on the steps outside the office. I noticed I had a blue and white striped shirt on, but it was too tight and the buttons were straining. Two girls came out of the office and asked what I was doing with my beard — a very strange remark. The first girl remarked that I had a split in my beard. I responded that I had not bothered to groom that morning. No! She said, it definitely has a split in it. I responded jokingly that Moses also had a split in his beard.

I walked to a shelter or a canopy which had an apex roof. It was a narrow structure about ten feet high; it reminded me of a bicycle shelter. I remember speaking underneath this canopy. As I began to speak, I noticed an echo. The echo did not repeat the words I was speaking. It seemed to be reflecting back something else. It was almost like a conversation. I turned around to see the boss coming toward me. He was dressed casually in a trendy woollen jacket. He certainly looked different.

I spoke with him and said that I was leaving the company, but there was something I needed to tell him first. I said to him, “If you come to this canopy every day and speak, you will hear an echo”. “Listen to the echo. It will tell you what you need to do and it will give you advice”. I also said to him that I would pray for him every day. He seemed surprised at that and wanted me to confirm that I would pray for him daily. I said that I would, ‘every day’. Then the dream ended.

Dream interpretation, 16th of May 2023. ‘The Source Code’.

Psalm 36

I have a message from God in my heart concerning the sinfulness of the wicked: There is no fear of God before their eyes.

2 In their own eyes they flatter themselves too much to detect or hate their sin.

3 The words of their mouths are wicked and deceitful; they fail to act wisely or do good.

4 Even on their beds they plot evil; they commit themselves to a sinful course and do not reject what is wrong.

5 Your love, Lord, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies.

6 Your righteousness is like the highest mountains, your justice like the great deep. You, Lord, preserve both people and animals.

7 How priceless is your unfailing love, O God! People take refuge in the shadow of your wings.

8 They feast on the abundance of your house; you give them drink from your river of delights.

9 For with you is the fountain of life; in your light we see light

During my morning prayer time, I began to read again the book of Haggai. Jewish sources speak that the prophets Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi are the central figures in prophecy, and after the death of the prophets, the Holy Spirit left Israel.

This coincided with what we call today the intertestamental period — the 400 years between the Old Testament and the birth and the ministry of Christ. As a result of the departure of the Holy Spirit, it is said that what remained was the ‘Bat Kol’ — ‘the daughter of the voice’. This voice was also called ‘the echo’. It could not overrule prophecy but helped the rabbis during times of deliberation. Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi represent a link between the oral Torah and the sages.

The dream represents someone who is sent to deliver a message. In the dream, I was the messenger. The only thing that identified me for the position was my suit and position sitting next to the CEO. He is, of course, the one who decides how the company is to be run, and what are the future directives. No one in the room knew what my role was, and I wasn't certain of it myself. It's obvious that I was there to impart something to the CEO that would make his business prosper and change its productivity. The square table represents a stationary group. All of the staff were sitting around it. The office and the boardroom were all in one larger room. As the people were sitting around the table, it was obvious that less work was actually being done. My suggestion for them, which I gave to the boss, was to get everyone off the seats and to walk about and think. This would provide a greater level of productivity and a new way for moving forward. The shirt I was wearing was not mine, it wasn't meant for me to wear, and thus I didn't really fit into the group. Images of the prophet Moses painted by artists often show him with a beard that is split in the middle. My flippant remark somehow suggested that the role I occupied was perhaps prophetic. The Echo represented the Holy Spirit that communicates with us. We are commanded to listen to Him and to communicate with him. This is why the Echo did not reflect my own words. The Echo in the dream was not easy to perceive. I remember trying very hard to listen to what was being said.

What the Lord showed me in the dream is that we all must take the time to go to the point of the source. He showed me a war room. Around the table in the war room were generals debating outcomes. As they deliberated their strategy, I saw that their response and commands would be a result of what they obtained from their Intel.

This is their source of information. It doesn't come from anyone except a trusted informant. As they study and deliberate the information they must come to rely that their source is true. Once they have agreed to the strategy, they will relay this through the chain of command. The soldiers will respond accordingly, and as loyal troops who will not desert their posts, they will go to where the commanders tell them to go and follow the commands exactly.

We see this throughout the interaction between YHVH and Moses. Moses had to obey YHVH’s commands to the ’t’.

As students of the Word, we rely on our teachers. Our teachers often gain their information from other teachers. In the chain of education, we find that there are students, teachers, and those who study beyond the realm of mainstream education. These are those who go on to higher levels of understanding. Thus like an archaeologist, they can go to the very roots of knowledge. Their expertise in understanding what they find demands that they must somehow decode the information. Having been led to the source of the information, they must understand what they are perceiving. Whether they confirm existing thoughts or originate new ones, their understanding will change levels of thinking. As believers, we are told to study and to be diligent in our hearing. We must be able to discern what is aberrant and from where our information comes from. Not only are we to receive teaching, we must also be able to attain a level of a teacher. Through this process, our own minds and perceptions are transformed.

Thus we like the archaeologist, must come to learn the code and how to understand it. This tells us how important it is to spend time getting as near to the source of the knowledge of God’s word as possible. If we take any particular source without decoding it we come to translation. The translation is fallible and thus we see that through our eisegesis of scripture ( which places one's own interpretation and understanding upon the word) problems arise. The word taught in error creates a famine and thus the people perish through lack of knowledge. This is what we are finding today. Many who have the opportunity to teach from the pulpit do not have any comprehension of their responsibility and what they are doing to their students. What ends up being taught is human understanding combined with mindful philosophy. Few students will question the teaching of the teacher or the Pastor. Getting to the source of understanding and knowledge is the path of wisdom. We should be fearful if we are to misunderstand the word of God. Imagine that you are in a conversation in a room with others, and you were speaking about the word of God, and you were telling them something that you understood through your own teaching, and suddenly the Lord appeared in the room and spoke to everyone saying, “that's not what I said".

The Lord is gracious and has given us the Holy Spirit to lead us into truth. We must listen to Him and obey Him, or he will not be pleased. We must be fearful lest we reject the truth.

The encouragement of the Lord is that in times of apostasy and false prophets, in an age of false truths, the body of Messiah must recalibrate its hearing and must know — each of us, the voice of the Father.

Sitting around tables and filling rooms, causes paralysis and a retardation of the mind. Faith is hearing and doing.

In the dream, the boss changed his clothing so that he could walk in the way that he should go. My promise to pray for him represents the promise we should all make to support one another, especially those who are called to other purposes. As a result, the roles we are called to will become more productive. Just as a teacher impacts his students, we are called to do also. We must forever remain diligent students and teachers of the true word.

Jeremiah 23:

1“Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of My pasture!” declares the LORD.

2 Therefore this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says about the shepherds who tend My people: “You have scattered My flock and driven them away, and have not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to you for the evil of your deeds, declares the LORD.

3 Then I Myself will gather the remnant of My flock from all the lands to which I have banished them, and I will return them to their pasture, where they will be fruitful and multiply. 4 I will raise up shepherds over them who will tend them, and they will no longer be afraid or dismayed, nor will any go missing, declares the LORD.

This is the will of the Lord.

Shalom.

Grant