Backyard Dagon

[lainey68]

I dreamed yesterday that my mom was in my backyard and there was an area that had a lot of ivy growing in it (my backyard does not have this). My mom was there and she apparently was waiting for Prince. She was kind of giddy. I told her something along the lines of, 'You might get more than you anticipated.' As soon as I said that, there was a sound like stones grinding on each other. Then about 20 feet away, this stone statue just shot up out of the ground. It was a statue of Dagon. He was in a seated position, and it was about 50' high. His hands were in a praying position.

The next scene, I looked, and there was a conversion van with two men. The driver was a young Middle Eastern man, and the other was a young black man. Not sure if he was African or American. The Middle Eastern man was a preacher of some sort of religion. It was not Islam, but I don't know what it was. It was not Christian, either. The next thing, there were all these people of that religion in my town. They weren't doing anything overtly evil, but I felt evil from them.

IRL, my mom was not a Prince fan at all. The thing that I got from this dream was "Right in my own backyard." But I don't know *what* is in my own backyard, does that make sense? I prayed when I got up, but not sure what I should be praying about. I do know the story of how the Amorites put the Ark of the Covenant into Dagon's temple and how the Holy Spirit broke his hands. I read a little and know that Dagon became Zeus to the Greeks.

[Joshua116]

are you greek or middle eastern?

something to ponder

before Jesus was born, and before even Rome occupied Judea, an evil Greek army conquered Jerusalem under Antiochus IV

he was a 'Seleucid' ruler meaning he was Syrian-Greek

he is the Little Horn written about in Daniel

the Jewish holiday Hanukkah comes from this period of upheaval as Antiochus had the Temple desecrated and the Jews were unable to perform
their rituals until they regained control of the land

the Books of 1 & 2 Maccabees tell of this extraordinary and violent period for the Jews

[lainey68]

No, I'm neither Middle Eastern or Greek. As a kid, I was very much into Greek mythology, though. Currently, I am studying with some friends about the Watchers (fallen angels) and their offspring, the Nephilim. I have read a bit of the Book of Enoch, and will start reading the Book of Jasher. I have heard the Hannukah story many times, but never read the Books of the Maccabees. I started reading last night. Really fascinating!

I think my dream may have to do about the Watchers and end times prophecy as they are related. I'm just wondering if there's some alternative religious movement in my community (hence, "my own backyard"). And I also think Prince was significant in some way. Not that Prince the entertainer was significant, but that my mom was waiting on "Prince" and then a demon-god shows up.

Thanks for the info about Antiochus. It did help. I've been reading a chapter of the Bible every day. I started in James and am now in Ezekiel. I am so looking forward to reading Daniel! So, what you said about the little horn I will keep in my memory for when I get to that book.

[bjcollin]

some things as I read through your dream... the ivy to me is neglect or overgrowth that happens when we leave things unattended for a while. Our backyard can signify ourselves for things that are familiar or the things in our past. Not within us per se, but we were close to it at one time. Dagon (ref 1 Samuel 5) was an idol of the Philistines which was forced to bow down to the one true God. To see an idol with praying hands to me could possibly signify the thing that is being made an idol out of which is prayer to this idol. 50 is the number of Jubilee, and 50 feet is big, so this thing was huge at one time and it might have been thought of as freeing, but it wasn't as it was just an idol. The two men in the van to me represent those who are different from you, aka they are not Christians, they are foreign to you. While not all religions are good/evil, we as Christians do believe that any non-Christian religions are inherently evil as at best they represent false paths to a false god. Oh yea, back to Prince, he was a Jehovah's Witness, not Christian unless he at sometime in his life gave his life to Jesus Christ as his Lord and Saviour. Somethings look Christian on the outside, but they are not on the inside, they are just big idols. Hope this helps you on your dreams with some thoughts.

in Christ,

[lainey68]

"To see an idol with praying hands to me could possibly signify the thing that is being made an idol out of which is prayer to this idol."

Could you please explain this sentence? I'm asking because if you're saying what I think you're saying, that, and 50 make a lot of sense to me on a personal level.

I have been praying about something for a long time and wondering if I'm making an idol out of the thing I'm praying for.

I think this has helped me tremendously.

[bjcollin]

When I was originally thinking about that weirdly structured sentence... haha let me think on that one ... basically my first thought was sometimes prayer itself can become an idol ... i.e. rote prayers over and over again with little meaning but are repeated often which is common in "religious" types of churches. I have not thought about the other side of that coin that the thing that your praying for could become the idol as well... but I can start to see that now as well too. i.e. the old example I used to use for the name it claim it crowd was that if I wanted some thing like a Cadillac or a Mercedes bad enough, then all I had to do was pray it in with enough perseverance or enough verses backing it up such as "no good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly", and then start to walk in faith toward that goal and God would provide.... It doesn't work that way with God, He is not a jackpot machine. So, what if I may ask was the thing you were praying for?

[lainey68]

I'm single and have been praying for the Lord for a husband. I have been praying about it for 25 years. I'm 48, and just really worried I'd be 50 and still unmarried. I worked for a woman who married her third husband when she was in her 50s and she said to me that bring married in your 50s was so much better. I wasn't quite 40 then, and her words struck me. I was angry a little. Hard to explain.

However, even though your words were "jumbled", it really made sense. That day I decided not to pray about it anymore. I am in a group of single women waiting for their respective Boaz, and I told them I needed to step away for awhile because I have made seeking a husband an idol and that I need to focus on what God has for me. Since then, I've not freely anxious about being single. I've not felt sad, or fantasized about being married.

So, thank you for your "jumbled" words

[bjcollin]

Ahhh I can see that. I had the same problem a few years before I turned 30. I had my engineering career starting to do good and I had my single friends in the church singles group whom many were falling away from the singles group and were getting married and leaving to have kids etc... It got to the point where I was lonely and since the church I was in had a lot of younger barely age 20 students in it, I was like becoming a leper for those of us approaching 30. I was getting disappointed and angry with God for not bringing along somebody into my life. I had actual God given dreams of getting married and God had even showed me the church I eventually got married in a dream, but that is a different story for another day, so I knew God was working but way too slowly for me. The summary is that I was making an idol out of getting married or even having a girlfriend in my life and it was hurting me and even hurting those around me because of my bad/angry attitudes that I had toward myself and especially toward God. I finally got to the point where I just gave up point blank and followed the verse that says don't seek a wife. I totally turned off all my activity in the singles group except for softball games and occasional fellowship parties, and I focused on my work and I even started taking pastoral classes at night school. It ended up being a wonderful time in my life even though I did not think it was at the time. The point I had to come to was God is God and I am not... He is in control and will either act or He won't and it is not up to me, but it is up to Him and my only job is to follow Him in this life whether single or married and to be content with Him and be totally plugged into Him. I eventually did get married right before I turned 31 and then our son Noah was born in 1999, and then the rest of the story as they say is now history. I hope this story helps you, and I can fully understand where you are coming from. God Bless you, press into Him.

in Christ,