Young People and Tornado
December 31, 2011 - New Year's Eve Betsy Elam
There were a lot of young people at what seemed to be my house (not exactly like my real physical house, though). There were probably at least twenty-five people there. It seems like we may have all been inside my house at first.
The part I remember with total clarity is being outside on our property with all these young people. Many were young men, maybe high school or college age. They seemed quite physically fit. Some people were a little older. No one was older than their thirties except me (and I feel I represent something other than me, anyway). It was dusk or close to dusk. I sat as an observer to the group which was laughing at different things people were saying or doing. It all seemed quite good natured and innocent.
Suddenly, a slightly overweight woman who seemed to be in her mid to late thirties said in a casual, joking, light-hearted way; almost sing-song in elocution, “I deny the Lord.” Everyone laughed as if she were saying a joke because they thought she surely couldn’t really mean it. That was my assumption in the dream. In other words, someone who had the reputation of being a Christian said it very casually as if it were a joke. I didn’t laugh as the import of her words hit me. She seemed to be daring people to notice what she was really saying.
I asked her, “What did you say?”
She repeated, “I deny the Lord.” I immediately took her hands, looked her in the eyes and proclaimed, “I rebuke that statement you just made!” Basically, I was trying to keep her from having said a word curse over herself. She seemed willing to have me pray for her, realizing she had done something foolish. She seemed repentant.
Then I saw a young man in the group and said, “You’re one of the ‘End Times’ dads.” He was not a father (physically or spiritually) yet. I knew it was for the future. Another young man lying on the ground at my feet (he had been intently listening to my words), thought I meant him. He was in his early thirties. But I knew that he was too old to be one of the ‘End Times’ dads (fathers). It was for the younger man in his early twenties, around my son’s age. Actually, the man in his early thirties reminded me of my oldest son, Peter, who is thirty-three. The younger man reminded me of my youngest son, Joel, who is about to be twenty-two. I was not allowed to see distinct faces in this dream.
I looked slightly to my left out into the more distant city. A storm was brewing with very dark, menacing clouds. It was as dark as night where the turbulent, dark clouds were. Suddenly, I saw a huge tornado forming. It was ‘boiling’ and widened greatly as it touched the ground. It looked like a giant mushroom cloud. It was heading straight towards us.
I told everyone to run into my house to take shelter. It felt like there was a basement to run into. My real house doesn’t have one. It was our only option as the tornado was so close and coming so fast. I couldn’t see how we would escape a hit, but I knew that running into my house was our only chance of surviving. I was afraid for everyone, but not with the kind of fear that immobilizes or dashes all hope, considering the violent storm I was seeing. Every one of the young people did as I said and ran to take shelter inside my house.
I felt like I should have recognized the young people at my house, but I couldn’t quite make out who people were, as I was not allowed to make out distinct faces in the dream. But again, the young man I prophesied over reminded me most of my youngest son.
Thoughts:
It is interesting to me that after all the dreams from the Lord that I’ve had (I’m sure it must be over 100), this is my very FIRST dream having a tornado. That is significant to me. I have seen dark clouds that were very stormy in at least one dream. In that dream, the Lord was telling me to read Joel chapter 2 which does have that imagery and so I understood dark clouds can represent the day of the Lord (when the Lord uses powers of darkness to execute His judgment). In that dream, the Lord also specifically pinpointed Joel 2:12-17. That is the answer for the people of God. God wishes to spare them and be compassionate if they return to Him with a true repentance of the heart – a true fast. That theme revisits this current dream as well. Now, back to this dream.
In the first scene, a lot of young people seem to have been inside my house. Tracing what I seem to represent in the entire dream, it becomes clear that I represent ‘Wisdom’. The dream is showing that these are all Christians who have heard wisdom calling (see Prov. 8:1-4 and Prov. 9:3-6). I have represented wisdom in some other recent dreams, too, as the Lord often speaks on similar themes until we all ‘get it’. They are inside Wisdom’s house (Prov. 9:1-6), thus they are believers.
Why have the young people chosen to go outside my (Wisdom’s) house? They are still on my property, but they are spread out. ‘Wisdom’ would not be able to instruct out in the elements as easily as in the intimate setting of a living room. (In some recent dreams, Wisdom was teaching within her house.) Is there a ‘flirting with the world’ going on? The young people are saying different one-liners and each comment is getting a round of laughs. Is nothing serious or sacred? In and of itself it seems harmless, but the woman’s declaration of denying the Lord which gets exactly the same treatment of laughter, shows something is not right. It’s as if it is understood that a Christian can say or do whatever they want. We’ll just laugh and take it lightheartedly because we ‘know’ they’re saved. The Lord is calling this behavior out, asking us to repent and renounce our words and behaviors that deny Him. He wants to spare us the ultimate impact of really denying Jesus before men such that at the Last Day, He would deny us before the Father. This must not be! Laughing when the woman denies the Lord is a type of agreement with her statement. Thus, all have participated in the sin of denying the Lord to one degree or another. The woman did realize her foolishness when Wisdom recognized the need to pray for her. She also repented. Jesus, as our example, also saw the need to pray for Peter whom Jesus knew would verbally deny knowing Him three times. Jesus beforehand had told Peter, “Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat; but I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail…” Luke 22:31. Praise God for His forgiveness and restoration!
I did a Bible study of what it can mean to ‘deny the Lord’. I believe that this is an ‘End Times’ attack on the church. Are we entering the era of the ‘Great Falling Away’? That will occur before the Coming of the Lord (I Thess. 2:3). Is 2012 going to see Christians falling away or denying the Lord in unprecedented numbers? I had the dream December 31, 2011, New Year’s Eve. For that reason, I feel the Lord is speaking to us about the ‘New’ year… 2012. Are we close to entering the real ‘End Times’? I believe we all need to be praying for our brothers and sisters in Christ, even as Jesus prayed for Peter, that their faith doesn’t fail. Of course, we must always pray for the lost.
My Bible study about denying the Lord gave me a lot of pause on these scriptures:
I Thess. 2:3- see above paragraph.
John 12:48- “He who rejects Me and does not receive My sayings…” Not receiving all that Jesus said (doing it by the grace of the Holy Spirit) is a way to reject (deny) Him.
2 Peter 2:1-3- “…just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even DENYING the Master WHO BOUGHT THEM, bringing swift destruction upon themselves. Many will follow their SENSUALITY, and because of them the way of the truth will be maligned; and in their GREED they will exploit you with false words…” The entire chapter is devoted to the description of these who deny Christ. It calls them SELF-WILLED and describes their daring disregard for authority, even as regards to angelic majesties. Our Master bought us out of slavery to sin SO that we would serve righteousness. It is a humbling thing to be bought and realize you are not your own. Self-will, sensuality and greed must not become idols in our lives and cause us to deny the Lord.
I John 2:21-22 “…because you do know it (the truth), and because no lie is of the truth. Who is the LIAR but the one who DENIES that Jesus is the Christ? This is the ANTICHRIST, the one who denies the Father and the Son.” It is a sign of the antichrist spirit which seems widespread today. Embracing the truth (the Word, Jesus) is the opposite of the antichrist spirit.
Joshua 24:20-28 Joshua is telling the people that they must choose between their foreign gods or serving the Lord and obeying His voice. To not do this would be denying the Lord (vs. 28). Many foreign gods have been brought to America and there has even been an effort to mingle these other religions with Christianity. We cannot compromise!
Prov. 30:8,9- “…Give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that is my portion, that I not BE FULL and DENY You and say, “Who is the Lord?” This scripture convicted me. Even though I know I wasn’t the woman in my dream that was slightly overweight, I too, have also dealt with ‘fullness’ issues such as being too full of food or thoughts of food or other ‘comforts’. Could her ‘fullness’ have caused her to deny the Lord? I believe we all need to be careful that we don’t get full of things that are not God. It can certainly be more than food. Food is a blessing when eaten in moderation. It could be video games, Facebook, TV, books, hobbies, things money buys, anything that is good in moderation, but in excess causes us to feel like we have everything and don’t need the Lord.
Deut. 8:11-14- The theme of Proverbs 30:8 and 9 is expressed again here. Before these verses, the good land the Israelites were being brought into is described… a land where they will lack nothing. They are encouraged to humbly thank the Lord for the great blessing of being satisfied with what they have eaten in the new land, etc. In verse 12-14 , the Lord cautions against getting full of His multiplied blessings and becoming PROUD in seeming self-sufficiency and FORGETTING the Lord who brought them out of the house of slavery and gave all the blessings of provision in the first place. Pride seems to precede denying the Lord. It did in Peter’s case and it did with the children of Israel. Pride says, “I don’t need God. All the good things happening to me are my own doing.” We must all be on guard against pride. Pride is often very subtle. Humility acknowledges that we need the Lord for every breath and each step we take.
Isa. 59:12,13- “…and we know our iniquities: transgressing and denying the Lord, and turning away from our God…” The context of this scripture makes it very clear that habitual sinning is denying the Lord which Isaiah also defines as, ‘turning away from OUR God. The worst betrayal the Lord ever experiences are with those who once walked with Him. Lord, help us not to betray and deny you and cause you the deepest pain that the cross is about. We don’t want to crucify you afresh and cause that pain again… the pain caused by a dearly loved friend who turns away after you’ve given your all to them.
Luke 22:54-62 describes Peter’s denial of Jesus. I am struck by a sentence in the scripture after the third denial when the rooster crows as foretold by Jesus. The sentence reads, “The Lord turned and looked at Peter.” Whatever was in that look caused Peter to remember the Lord’s words and he wept bitterly. But praise God, that’s not the end of the story. The Lord gave him three opportunities to not deny Him, but instead confess his love and willingness to care for the Lord’s sheep in John 21:15-17. Then in Acts 2, after being filled with the Holy Spirit, Peter preaches, inspired by that same Spirit and 3000 were saved! He was forgiven, restored and commissioned with the power of the Holy Spirit! We need the Holy Spirit to help us serve the Lord. There’s a bit of that Peter pride and self-sufficiency in all of us saying, “Not me Lord. I would never do that. I’m not like the others. You can count on me.” The Lord knows none of us can walk the Christian walk, not denying Him, without the power of the Holy Spirit operating in our lives. When the Holy Spirit fell on Peter, he was a different man!
Jude 1:4- “For certain persons… ungodly persons who TURN the GRACE of our God INTO LICENTIOUSNESS and DENY our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ. The false grace message taught in some circles today is doing just exactly what this scripture warned of so long ago! One purpose of God’s grace is to help us to NOT sin. It is not a magic bullet to shoot at an endless trail of sins which magically blasts them away. God requires our repentance when He bestows His forgiveness. God requires our heart to be His.
Saying to the twenty-two year old in the dream that he was a future END TIMES dad (father) seems to indicate this is an end time themed dream. Denying the Lord is a sign of the end times (the great falling away). An end times dad could mean a spiritual father as well as a physical one. It takes a maturing of some years to be a true spiritual father. But this dream is giving a time frame. The thirty-three year old man will not be in the very last group of (spiritual?) fathers. It doesn’t mean he won’t be (or isn’t right now) a father physically or spiritually. He is just not the last of the true fathers.
I know others who have dreamt of tornadoes that represented the satanic attacks coming or already occurring in their own families. Our family is doing well at this time. Also, I do not physically have twenty-five children (Ha!). My husband, Mark, felt that the tornado coming from the left and making its path of destruction to the right may represent 2012 political events and governmental laws/decisions. We know what the right and left represent in American government/politics. It may even have a foreboding of election results. So, we need to pray! Our country needs God’s mercy. We, the people of God, need His great compassion and mercy.
The mushroom cloud-shaped tornado seems to indicate dark forces of almost nuclear power to destroy. The fact that everyone took shelter when Wisdom shouted and gave warning shows that the youth were gaining wisdom by running into Wisdom’s house. I know they survived the tornado because in the dream I had prophesied over the future of the young man. We need to pray for the youth to run to the Lord and His wisdom in these dark times.
The part I remember with total clarity is being outside on our property with all these young people. Many were young men, maybe high school or college age. They seemed quite physically fit. Some people were a little older. No one was older than their thirties except me (and I feel I represent something other than me, anyway). It was dusk or close to dusk. I sat as an observer to the group which was laughing at different things people were saying or doing. It all seemed quite good natured and innocent.
Suddenly, a slightly overweight woman who seemed to be in her mid to late thirties said in a casual, joking, light-hearted way; almost sing-song in elocution, “I deny the Lord.” Everyone laughed as if she were saying a joke because they thought she surely couldn’t really mean it. That was my assumption in the dream. In other words, someone who had the reputation of being a Christian said it very casually as if it were a joke. I didn’t laugh as the import of her words hit me. She seemed to be daring people to notice what she was really saying.
I asked her, “What did you say?”
She repeated, “I deny the Lord.” I immediately took her hands, looked her in the eyes and proclaimed, “I rebuke that statement you just made!” Basically, I was trying to keep her from having said a word curse over herself. She seemed willing to have me pray for her, realizing she had done something foolish. She seemed repentant.
Then I saw a young man in the group and said, “You’re one of the ‘End Times’ dads.” He was not a father (physically or spiritually) yet. I knew it was for the future. Another young man lying on the ground at my feet (he had been intently listening to my words), thought I meant him. He was in his early thirties. But I knew that he was too old to be one of the ‘End Times’ dads (fathers). It was for the younger man in his early twenties, around my son’s age. Actually, the man in his early thirties reminded me of my oldest son, Peter, who is thirty-three. The younger man reminded me of my youngest son, Joel, who is about to be twenty-two. I was not allowed to see distinct faces in this dream.
I looked slightly to my left out into the more distant city. A storm was brewing with very dark, menacing clouds. It was as dark as night where the turbulent, dark clouds were. Suddenly, I saw a huge tornado forming. It was ‘boiling’ and widened greatly as it touched the ground. It looked like a giant mushroom cloud. It was heading straight towards us.
I told everyone to run into my house to take shelter. It felt like there was a basement to run into. My real house doesn’t have one. It was our only option as the tornado was so close and coming so fast. I couldn’t see how we would escape a hit, but I knew that running into my house was our only chance of surviving. I was afraid for everyone, but not with the kind of fear that immobilizes or dashes all hope, considering the violent storm I was seeing. Every one of the young people did as I said and ran to take shelter inside my house.
I felt like I should have recognized the young people at my house, but I couldn’t quite make out who people were, as I was not allowed to make out distinct faces in the dream. But again, the young man I prophesied over reminded me most of my youngest son.
Thoughts:
It is interesting to me that after all the dreams from the Lord that I’ve had (I’m sure it must be over 100), this is my very FIRST dream having a tornado. That is significant to me. I have seen dark clouds that were very stormy in at least one dream. In that dream, the Lord was telling me to read Joel chapter 2 which does have that imagery and so I understood dark clouds can represent the day of the Lord (when the Lord uses powers of darkness to execute His judgment). In that dream, the Lord also specifically pinpointed Joel 2:12-17. That is the answer for the people of God. God wishes to spare them and be compassionate if they return to Him with a true repentance of the heart – a true fast. That theme revisits this current dream as well. Now, back to this dream.
In the first scene, a lot of young people seem to have been inside my house. Tracing what I seem to represent in the entire dream, it becomes clear that I represent ‘Wisdom’. The dream is showing that these are all Christians who have heard wisdom calling (see Prov. 8:1-4 and Prov. 9:3-6). I have represented wisdom in some other recent dreams, too, as the Lord often speaks on similar themes until we all ‘get it’. They are inside Wisdom’s house (Prov. 9:1-6), thus they are believers.
Why have the young people chosen to go outside my (Wisdom’s) house? They are still on my property, but they are spread out. ‘Wisdom’ would not be able to instruct out in the elements as easily as in the intimate setting of a living room. (In some recent dreams, Wisdom was teaching within her house.) Is there a ‘flirting with the world’ going on? The young people are saying different one-liners and each comment is getting a round of laughs. Is nothing serious or sacred? In and of itself it seems harmless, but the woman’s declaration of denying the Lord which gets exactly the same treatment of laughter, shows something is not right. It’s as if it is understood that a Christian can say or do whatever they want. We’ll just laugh and take it lightheartedly because we ‘know’ they’re saved. The Lord is calling this behavior out, asking us to repent and renounce our words and behaviors that deny Him. He wants to spare us the ultimate impact of really denying Jesus before men such that at the Last Day, He would deny us before the Father. This must not be! Laughing when the woman denies the Lord is a type of agreement with her statement. Thus, all have participated in the sin of denying the Lord to one degree or another. The woman did realize her foolishness when Wisdom recognized the need to pray for her. She also repented. Jesus, as our example, also saw the need to pray for Peter whom Jesus knew would verbally deny knowing Him three times. Jesus beforehand had told Peter, “Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat; but I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail…” Luke 22:31. Praise God for His forgiveness and restoration!
I did a Bible study of what it can mean to ‘deny the Lord’. I believe that this is an ‘End Times’ attack on the church. Are we entering the era of the ‘Great Falling Away’? That will occur before the Coming of the Lord (I Thess. 2:3). Is 2012 going to see Christians falling away or denying the Lord in unprecedented numbers? I had the dream December 31, 2011, New Year’s Eve. For that reason, I feel the Lord is speaking to us about the ‘New’ year… 2012. Are we close to entering the real ‘End Times’? I believe we all need to be praying for our brothers and sisters in Christ, even as Jesus prayed for Peter, that their faith doesn’t fail. Of course, we must always pray for the lost.
My Bible study about denying the Lord gave me a lot of pause on these scriptures:
I Thess. 2:3- see above paragraph.
John 12:48- “He who rejects Me and does not receive My sayings…” Not receiving all that Jesus said (doing it by the grace of the Holy Spirit) is a way to reject (deny) Him.
2 Peter 2:1-3- “…just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even DENYING the Master WHO BOUGHT THEM, bringing swift destruction upon themselves. Many will follow their SENSUALITY, and because of them the way of the truth will be maligned; and in their GREED they will exploit you with false words…” The entire chapter is devoted to the description of these who deny Christ. It calls them SELF-WILLED and describes their daring disregard for authority, even as regards to angelic majesties. Our Master bought us out of slavery to sin SO that we would serve righteousness. It is a humbling thing to be bought and realize you are not your own. Self-will, sensuality and greed must not become idols in our lives and cause us to deny the Lord.
I John 2:21-22 “…because you do know it (the truth), and because no lie is of the truth. Who is the LIAR but the one who DENIES that Jesus is the Christ? This is the ANTICHRIST, the one who denies the Father and the Son.” It is a sign of the antichrist spirit which seems widespread today. Embracing the truth (the Word, Jesus) is the opposite of the antichrist spirit.
Joshua 24:20-28 Joshua is telling the people that they must choose between their foreign gods or serving the Lord and obeying His voice. To not do this would be denying the Lord (vs. 28). Many foreign gods have been brought to America and there has even been an effort to mingle these other religions with Christianity. We cannot compromise!
Prov. 30:8,9- “…Give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that is my portion, that I not BE FULL and DENY You and say, “Who is the Lord?” This scripture convicted me. Even though I know I wasn’t the woman in my dream that was slightly overweight, I too, have also dealt with ‘fullness’ issues such as being too full of food or thoughts of food or other ‘comforts’. Could her ‘fullness’ have caused her to deny the Lord? I believe we all need to be careful that we don’t get full of things that are not God. It can certainly be more than food. Food is a blessing when eaten in moderation. It could be video games, Facebook, TV, books, hobbies, things money buys, anything that is good in moderation, but in excess causes us to feel like we have everything and don’t need the Lord.
Deut. 8:11-14- The theme of Proverbs 30:8 and 9 is expressed again here. Before these verses, the good land the Israelites were being brought into is described… a land where they will lack nothing. They are encouraged to humbly thank the Lord for the great blessing of being satisfied with what they have eaten in the new land, etc. In verse 12-14 , the Lord cautions against getting full of His multiplied blessings and becoming PROUD in seeming self-sufficiency and FORGETTING the Lord who brought them out of the house of slavery and gave all the blessings of provision in the first place. Pride seems to precede denying the Lord. It did in Peter’s case and it did with the children of Israel. Pride says, “I don’t need God. All the good things happening to me are my own doing.” We must all be on guard against pride. Pride is often very subtle. Humility acknowledges that we need the Lord for every breath and each step we take.
Isa. 59:12,13- “…and we know our iniquities: transgressing and denying the Lord, and turning away from our God…” The context of this scripture makes it very clear that habitual sinning is denying the Lord which Isaiah also defines as, ‘turning away from OUR God. The worst betrayal the Lord ever experiences are with those who once walked with Him. Lord, help us not to betray and deny you and cause you the deepest pain that the cross is about. We don’t want to crucify you afresh and cause that pain again… the pain caused by a dearly loved friend who turns away after you’ve given your all to them.
Luke 22:54-62 describes Peter’s denial of Jesus. I am struck by a sentence in the scripture after the third denial when the rooster crows as foretold by Jesus. The sentence reads, “The Lord turned and looked at Peter.” Whatever was in that look caused Peter to remember the Lord’s words and he wept bitterly. But praise God, that’s not the end of the story. The Lord gave him three opportunities to not deny Him, but instead confess his love and willingness to care for the Lord’s sheep in John 21:15-17. Then in Acts 2, after being filled with the Holy Spirit, Peter preaches, inspired by that same Spirit and 3000 were saved! He was forgiven, restored and commissioned with the power of the Holy Spirit! We need the Holy Spirit to help us serve the Lord. There’s a bit of that Peter pride and self-sufficiency in all of us saying, “Not me Lord. I would never do that. I’m not like the others. You can count on me.” The Lord knows none of us can walk the Christian walk, not denying Him, without the power of the Holy Spirit operating in our lives. When the Holy Spirit fell on Peter, he was a different man!
Jude 1:4- “For certain persons… ungodly persons who TURN the GRACE of our God INTO LICENTIOUSNESS and DENY our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ. The false grace message taught in some circles today is doing just exactly what this scripture warned of so long ago! One purpose of God’s grace is to help us to NOT sin. It is not a magic bullet to shoot at an endless trail of sins which magically blasts them away. God requires our repentance when He bestows His forgiveness. God requires our heart to be His.
Saying to the twenty-two year old in the dream that he was a future END TIMES dad (father) seems to indicate this is an end time themed dream. Denying the Lord is a sign of the end times (the great falling away). An end times dad could mean a spiritual father as well as a physical one. It takes a maturing of some years to be a true spiritual father. But this dream is giving a time frame. The thirty-three year old man will not be in the very last group of (spiritual?) fathers. It doesn’t mean he won’t be (or isn’t right now) a father physically or spiritually. He is just not the last of the true fathers.
I know others who have dreamt of tornadoes that represented the satanic attacks coming or already occurring in their own families. Our family is doing well at this time. Also, I do not physically have twenty-five children (Ha!). My husband, Mark, felt that the tornado coming from the left and making its path of destruction to the right may represent 2012 political events and governmental laws/decisions. We know what the right and left represent in American government/politics. It may even have a foreboding of election results. So, we need to pray! Our country needs God’s mercy. We, the people of God, need His great compassion and mercy.
The mushroom cloud-shaped tornado seems to indicate dark forces of almost nuclear power to destroy. The fact that everyone took shelter when Wisdom shouted and gave warning shows that the youth were gaining wisdom by running into Wisdom’s house. I know they survived the tornado because in the dream I had prophesied over the future of the young man. We need to pray for the youth to run to the Lord and His wisdom in these dark times.
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