In this post I begin unpacking the Freedom dream.
One thing I must say at this point there was a very strong feeling about this dream that it wasn’t just for me. There was a strong sense of the corporate about it. The initial feeling that was so strong was of being trapped in something we couldn’t get out of. This changed to a strong feeling of being free to change as the dream progressed. A feeling of hope grew. That feeling started when I saw the man going through a glass door. Freedom is about being brought out into the open. The dream conveyed this very strongly.
2 Corinthians 3:16–18 (LEB): ‘…but whenever one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, with unveiled face, reflecting the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory into glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.’
Logos 8 Bible Software
The sense of freedom in the dream story is what holds it together. What is freedom you may ask and how does it relate to what’s going on here? I have been helped to think about the words of Jesus in the temple when he read from the scroll there:
‘“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
Luke 4:18,19 LEB
because of which he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me
to proclaim release to the captives,
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to send out in freedom those who are oppressed,
to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.”’
Logos 8 Bible Software
The word release above and the word freedom both come from the Greek word aphesis:
ἄφεσις (from ἀφίημι) (remissio), a sending away, a letting go, a release; hence (cf. in inscriptions, remission from debt or punishment), remission, forgiveness.
Logos 8 Bible Software
The dream not only conveys the sense of freedom through forgiveness but also in the sense of being set free like a slave is set free. Freed from the darkness into the light. More on that in a future part where I will write about Rosemary.
In the Luke passage given above there is a sentence about recovery of sight which isn’t in the Old Testament version of the same found in Isaiah. Yet it is in Psalm 146:7,8
The Lord sets the prisoners free; the Lord opens the eyes of the blind
The sense of freedom seems to relate more to being set free from something to something else. In the dream I am moving from darkness into light. In the end others also are being lead out into the light.
I can’t help but think of one of the biggest episodes for the people of Israel when it comes to slavery and that is when they were released from captivity from Egypt under the oppression of Pharaoh. (Book of Exodus in the Bible). I think when Jesus reads from the Isaiah scroll this maybe in the thoughts of those listening.
The dream was very personal to me as it relates to a time when things were tense between my wife and I due to something I had done. I had offended her and felt what I had done was unforgivable. It was a painful time. I was crying out to the Lord what to do in making it right and I had the dream a few days later.
The dream showed me I was given the opportunity to make things right by taking hold of the watch which I believe was symbolic of God making things beautiful in his time. He was the one reaching down to me with his large hands showing me the way in his mercy.
I then saw the way out because of the man showing the way. The man was Jesus.
‘And so you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High,
Luke 1:77-79
for you will go on before the Lord to prepare his ways,
to give knowledge of salvation to his people
by the forgiveness of their sins,
because of the merciful compassion of our God
by which the dawn will visit to help us from on high,
to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,
to direct our feet into the way of peace.”’
Logos 8 Bible Software
To be continued – Freedom Dream (Part 3)