A Dream I had on Apr 3, 2006

Joel 2:28 And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions

According to this scripture, I guess I'm getting old. :o)

Two years ago, I had a dream. It was not the kind of dream that you forget the next morning. This dream stuck with me and it was as though it really was actually happening.

Parts of the dream are clear to me, yet other parts have not been interpreted yet. With the 2 year anniversary coming up, I thought I would share this personal part of my life. I am not a big fan of spending a lot of time on things like this as God primarily witnesses to us through His Word and Holy Spirit. However, I do believe that He occasionally can and will work through visions and dreams.

This dream is presented to you just as it was typed up immediately after I dreamed it. If you feel you have an interpretation, please contact me at Back2theBible@aol.com

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The scene took place at a prestigious Institute of Higher Learning. There were large stone buildings with colonial style white columns in the front of them. These very structured and historical looking buildings were situated such that in the center of them was a large man-made pool, with beautiful fountains and landscaping all around it. There were marble steps that led down into the pool. These steps were directly in front of the main building that housed the Dean. The pool was U shaped.  

The pool was the gathering place where the people socialized. People would occasionally wade in this pool and it was a place of great happiness. There were beautiful fish that were gracefully swimming around and they were well fed and well kept. There were very large ones and small ones of all shapes and colors. It was also strange that in a natural setting, these fish would have devoured one another as they were natural predators. However, in this pool they would swim together in perfect harmony. There were beautiful plants in this pool and the water was so crystal clear that you could see the plants at the bottom of the pool from any location. It was like a paradise. The Institute of Higher Learning had gained a good reputation and the pool was of particular interest as it had helped the Institute to be a place of great notoriety. People came from far and wide to witness this beautiful and peaceful scene. 

But something horrible happened… 

The fish began to die, one at a time. At first, it was just one fish … and then two. The Dean refused to allow the grounds keeper to remove the dead fish from the pool because they were so beautiful and he wanted to make sure there were plenty of fish in the pool. Even though they were dead, they still looked beautiful as they were so colorful. He explained that the water coming off of the fountains would sometimes cause the dead fish to be submerged and it would appear as though they were still alive and even swimming.  

Soon, more and more fish began to die. Then, suddenly the fountains stopped flowing and the water became motionless. Something happened to the fountain pumps, but no one knew how to fix them. As more fish died and surfaced to the top, the water began to become cloudy and eventually it turned dark and murky. The plants began to die and their leaves and flower blooms began to float to the surface of the pool. One side of the pool was completely lined with dead fish and decaying plants. The water began to smell. But the Dean still would not allow the gardener to remove the dead fish. 

In a short time, nearly all the plants and fish were dead. The few remaining fish were diseased and swimming in a small group. They were not eating because everything in the pool had become contaminated. They knew that if they ate anything, they would die from the poisoning. They didn’t even want to open their mouths while swimming because of the pollutants in the water. Everything in the pool had the look and smell of death. 

I was standing on the edge of the pool and was watching what was happening but I was helpless to do anything about it. The Dean had spoken. A woman on the other side of the pool kept asking me to come over to where she was because she had things for me to do. It was all busy work. These tasks were things that would take my attention away from the real problem. She was standing on the side of the pool where the dead fish were collecting along the edge. At first, when she would call me over, I would swim across the pool and try to avoid getting near the area where the dead fish were floating. After completing each requested task, I would go back to the edge of the pool and grieve. More and more fish were dying and no one seemed to be alarmed. As time went on, she kept giving me more tasks to do. In swimming across the pool each time, I could no longer avoid coming in contact with the dead fish. There were too many of them and their bodies were now all bloated. The stench from the pool was so strong that you could hardly breathe. People quit gathering there. 

The Dean was expecting a visit from a famous person who was going to perform an inspection. His only concern was that his school, the Institute of Higher Learning, pass the inspection test. Shortly before the visitor arrived, he came out of his office in the main building and saw the condition of the pool. He instructed select persons that when the visitor arrived we were to gather round the pool and act like everything was okay. Maybe the visitor wouldn’t notice. He even insisted that some people were to go down the marble steps and wade into the pool. He told them to splash around in the stagnant water and act like they were having fun. Others were to pretend to be fishing, but by this point there were very few fish to catch, and the remaining fish were not eating. It was all for show to impress the inspector. He made it known that His reputation was on the line and he must pass this inspection. I was assigned to stand near the pool and pretend to be happily socializing. 

I tried to comply with his command, but I could not get near the pool because of the putrefying smell. 

Finally, I agreed to talk to the Dean on behalf of the people. I explained to him that we must remove the dead fish and drain out all of the stagnant water. After we drain the pool, we could fix the fountain pumps and get some fresh water circulating in the pool. I told him that I believed we still had time to do this before the inspector arrived. He looked at me and said that was impossible. He said that his pool designers had never planned for such an event and there was no way to drain out the stagnated water and even if there was a drainage system, there was no place for the polluted water to go. Furthermore, he said that there was no source of fresh water. He also said that since no one understands how the fountain pumps operated, they could not be fixed. Besides, they were in the middle of the stagnant pool and were unreachable. 

He insisted that his reputation was at stake and we must do as he instructed. He had to pass this final inspection! I walked away very saddened. I was shocked! If only he had allowed the gardener to remove the dead fish in the beginning! I stood near the edge of the pool and as I looked out over all the deadness, the woman called me once again to come over to the edge of the pool as she had something else for me to do. After hearing the shocking news from the Dean, I did not want to go this time, but after considering the matter, I jumped into the stagnant water one final time and swam to the other side. As I was swimming across, some of the stagnant water got into my mouth and it was the most horrible taste I had ever experienced. As I reached the other side, I climbed up onto the edge of the pool, through all the floating dead fish and decayed plants. I stood up and looked at the woman who was eager for me to get started on another minuscule task. However, this time I turned around and looked back over the once beautiful pool. I had a flashback and I remembered what it used to look like. I remembered all the beautiful fountains, the fish and plant life and the freshness in the air. I was saddened deep within my spirit and began to weep uncontrollably… The strong putrefying smell of the pool came up through my nostrils and suddenly I awoke from this horrible dream.

I was literally gagging from the stench…