Beulah Land Pts 1-3

Monday, October 06, 2008, 8:11 a.m. – I woke with this song in my head:

The Greatest Story / AVALON

Some days your own resolve is strong
And other days you bend
it's two steps forward, one step back
and a stumble now and then
You wonder if you'll ever really make the difference
you've prayed that you will
Well, I know that prayer will be fulfilled 'cause

Your life woven day by day
is a new design of the glory God displays
on the canvas of creation
Through the poem of history
in the pattern of redemption
running through the tapestry
Your life in Christ can be
the greatest story ever told

You cannot see the hands of God
or feel the grace that flows
from Him through you to those you touch
In ways you'll never know
you cannot measure worth by human standards
That's always a lie
oh, you have to see through heaven's eyes how...

In the light of eternity
Standing face to face you will finally see
for the very first time you'll understand
your perfect place in the master plan and how...

I also woke from A DREAM: Part I: I was back at camp in Beulah Beach, Ohio. I was in the building next door to the hotel where I used to stay when I went to camp there as a child. I was talking with someone about the old hotel. This person told me that the beds all had box springs and new mattresses and bedspreads that color coordinated with the curtains in the rooms, etc. I was even shown all the patterns of bedspreads that they used. Each bedspread varied from the others in pattern and in color scheme, yet they all seemed to be based off the same basic design. I remarked to the person telling me all this that I used to stay at that hotel. I was also impressed how everything was all coordinated now. END

www.excite.com Daily Bible Verse: 2 Chronicles 15:7 (NIV):
But as for you, be strong and do not give up, for your work will be rewarded.

My Understanding: The Lord is beginning to give me understanding of this morning's dream. The first thing I noticed was the parallels between the song and the first paragraph of the dream. As I went back and read it again, I noticed even more from the song:

In the light of eternity
Standing face to face you will finally see
for the very first time you'll understand
your perfect place in the master plan and how...

The Lord encouraged me so much through this in this way: Beulah Beach Camp, in this case, is a reference to eternity and heaven when we shall see Jesus face to face and we will understand for the very first time our perfect place in the master plan and how our lives are woven day by day by his design he displays through history (went to camp as a child), through the pattern of redemption (pattern on the bedspreads, i.e. God's covering for our covenant relationship with him), running through the tapestry (the bedspreads) and how we are all uniquely designed and yet God coordinates all of his designs together under one master design. And, then he added the verse from II Chron 15 that states that our work will be rewarded. So, I appreciate so much these wonderful words of encouragement from the Lord today.

Beulah Land - From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

“This is the gospel hymn by Edgar Page Stites; for the Southern gospel song "Sweet Beulah Land" by Squire Parsons, see here Beulah Land is a well-known gospel hymn written by Edgar Page Stites (1836-1921) in either 1875 or 1876. The hymn, Stites' most popular, is set to music written by John R. Sweney (1837-1899). The hymn concludes with the chorus:

“O Beulah land, sweet Beulah land! As on thy highest mount I stand, I look away across the sea Where mansions are prepared for me And view the shining glory shore My heaven, my home forever more.

“The hymn derives from King James Version of Isaiah 62:4; "Thou shalt no more be termed Forsaken; neither shall thy land any more be termed Desolate; but thou shalt be called Hephzibah and thy land Beulah; for the LORD delighteth in thee, and thy land shall be married."

The verse is in reference to the return of the Jews from their exile in Babylon in which the Jews shall no longer be called Forsaken, but Hephzibah (My Delight Is in Her), and Jerusalem shall no longer be called Desolate, but Beulah (Married). This implies that the Jews have turned back to the worship of God... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beulah_Land

Part II
There was a part of this dream or another dream where I was in a building or a house of some kind with other people. I wanted some personal space so that I could cry some things out. I went to the house/building next door which was abandoned, but it was too dark and eery in there, so I didn’t go inside (it was dark outside, too)...

Jeremiah 51:6-10:
6 Flee from Babylon! Save yourselves!
Don’t get trapped in her punishment!
It is the Lord’s time for vengeance;
he will repay her in full.
7 Babylon has been a gold cup in the Lord’s hands,
a cup that made the whole earth drunk.
The nations drank Babylon’s wine,
and it drove them all mad.
8 But suddenly Babylon, too, has fallen.
Weep for her.
Give her medicine.
Perhaps she can yet be healed.
9 We would have helped her if we could,
but nothing can save her now.
Let her go; abandon her.
Return now to your own land.
For her punishment reaches to the heavens;
it is so great it cannot be measured.
10 The Lord has vindicated us.
Come, let us announce in Jerusalem
everything the Lord our God has done.

My Understanding: There are many theories of who "Babylon" is in the last days. Iraq would be the closest to the actual physical location of where Babylon was located, and the United States of America has been the "occupiers" there for the past five years.

The description of Babylon in both OT accounts, i.e OT prophecies against her and in the NT in the book of Revelation (chp 17) best fit The USA of today, mainly our government, I believe. Babylon has also been described as the world system that we need to flee from; come out of.

I saw these parallels between this portion of the dream and this portion of Jeremiah 51: I needed a place to cry alone. I went to an abandoned building "next door." It was too dark and eery, so I didn't go inside.

The passage of scripture said to weep (cry) for Babylon and perhaps she could be healed. The response was, though, that we would have helped her if we could, but nothing can save her now. So, we are to let her go (don't go inside); abandon her (leave her as she was) and return (go back where I was).

And, continuing with Part II of the dream:
Someone planned to move into that building/house. I believe I offered to help get the house/building ready to move into when it was daylight outside.

As compared to this portion of scripture:

11 Sharpen the arrows!
Lift up the shields!
For the Lord has inspired the kings of the Medes
to march against Babylon and destroy her.
This is his vengeance against those
who desecrated his Temple.
12 Raise the battle flag against Babylon!
Reinforce the guard and station the watchmen.
Prepare an ambush,
for the Lord will fulfill all his plans against Babylon.
13 You are a city by a great river,
a great center of commerce,
but your end has come.
The thread of your life is cut.
14 The Lord of Heaven’s Armies has taken this vow
and has sworn to it by his own name:
“Your cities will be filled with enemies,
like fields swarming with locusts,
and they will shout in triumph over you.”

My Understanding: The "someone" that I was getting the house ready for is the instrument of God's judgment that God plans to bring against Babylon, i.e. her enemies.

Part III
At these houses/buildings, the kids had some kind of a toy that needed an insert that someone else had to supply for them. The insert was something that was frozen and whatever they placed on the frozen material also became frozen. Later they needed a replacement part, so I assisted with that somehow, though this is really fuzzy. Then the toy was like a life-size boat that we all got inside. A man was sleeping in the back of the boat on one of two twin beds.

As compared to this passage of scripture from Jeremiah 51:

15 The Lord made the earth by his power,
and he preserves it by his wisdom.
With his own understanding
he stretched out the heavens.
16 When he speaks in the thunder,
the heavens are filled with water.
He causes the clouds to rise over the earth.
He sends the lightning with the rain
and releases the wind from his storehouses.
17 The whole human race is foolish and has no knowledge!
The craftsmen are disgraced by the idols they make,
for their carefully shaped works are a fraud.
These idols have no breath or power.
18 Idols are worthless; they are ridiculous lies!
On the day of reckoning they will all be destroyed.
19 But the God of Israel is no idol!
He is the Creator of everything that exists,
including his people, his own special possession.
The Lord of Heaven’s Armies is his name!

My Understanding: I was watching the news this evening when the commentator used the term "credit freeze" to describe the present financial crisis in the USA, and perhaps around the world, as this affects more than just the USA. And, when he said that, the Lord immediately brought to mind this portion of the dream.

The use of houses and buildings is related to the mortgage crisis which facilitated this bailout of Wall Street and the subsequent "credit freeze" and the falling of the stock market. A toy is to symbolize that it is man-made and those who were to manage our money obviously did more playing (playing the market, perhaps) than they did good management.

The insert, thus, was this "credit freeze" and the "replacement part" was the bailout package with all the "sweeteners." Then the toy became life-size (the enormity of the financial situation in America and the world) and we all got inside via our government committing the tax payers for this bailout, previous bailouts and more to come. The man sleeping in the back of the boat has to be our president who is obviously asleep on the job or he would not have allowed us to get into this mess.

A full-size bed shows a covenant relationship/partnership whereas a twin, i.e. single bed would seem to symbolize a person alone, not in a covenant relationship with God and perhaps the two beds shows that God and this man are sleeping in separate beds, but only one is asleep on the job, and it isn't God who is sleeping.

Verses 17-18 (above) give a good picture, I believe, of how God views this whole bailout and our whole credit/financial system in America, in our government and on Wall Street.