Last Updated on September 12, 2024 12:19 PM by herald
In this episode of Caribbean Prophetic Briefings we bring you a dream by Sister Max. We first heard from Sister Max on 6 April 2024 in the episode entitled, the Dream of the Outstretched Arm which had implications not only for Barbados but the Caribbean potentially.
On this occasion, however, this dream focuses specifically on Barbados and, as will become obvious from the content, they focus on a very topical issue.
As is our practice, we will present the unvarnished content of the dreams first and then deal with the interpretation.
Dream Begins
This is a dream I had sometime this year, 2024. In this dream I was on my way to the city, Bridgetown, but somehow I got off the bus before it got there. In the dream I knew that it was about three bus stops away from my destination.
I started to walk along the road and came to a section where there was what looked like an old but strong looking Rastafarian man standing on the left side of the road. On the other side, stretching from the middle of the road on the ground was this dark coloured substance that looked like oil – it was all over the place.
As I looked more closely I realized that it was the crushed body of a horse. I knew it was a horse because I saw that the teeth in its head were still intact. But there was no blood, it was just dark like oil and stretched across the road. So I tiptoed my way through it and the Rastafarian man said “This is art” which I thought rather strange.
As I continued walking, I met a girl who was deaf and dumb. She was trying to say something to me and other people. The other people took no notice of her but I paid attention. I then understood, by reading her lips and from how she was pointing, that she was showing me her dog. She was trying to tell me that the dog had been shot.
Immediately after I understood what she was saying, I saw a young woman being shot. Then I saw boys in short khaki pants with big guns just shooting wild all over the place having no regard to who you were; just shooting everyone.
I remembered saying to myself “Where is the police, where is the law? Why is nobody around to stop these boys?
As I was trying escape and dodge bullets, I noticed a school on my right hand. I ran into the school. I don’t know how I made it through the fence that surrounded it because it was not open. But somehow I just went through this fence as I was running to escape the bullets.
Then the dream switched and I found myself sitting in a chair; it was as if I had just awakened and I had been watching this thing unfold on a screen. Then I became aware of this man, of this boy I should say, because I heard his voice saying, “Gran’ are you okay?
There sitting next to me was this young boy with a big face. I became very alarmed after what I had just gone through running for my life.
I said to myself, “what is he up to? Is he trying to trick me? Let me try to get up. If I got up, would he put his foot across and try to trip me up?” All of these thoughts flew through my head because it seemed that the order of the day was for young people to be just cruel to you.
But he took out this pink bubble gum – as we used to call it back then – and gave to me. I took it gingerly and when I realized that he was not going to harm me, I decided I was going to get up and make my way home.
But when I got up, I realized that I was a much older person. It was really confusing because here I was out of this dream, dodging bullets running for my life, waking up in this chair with this young guy next to me and realizing that I had aged; that time had passed.
Anyway, I got up and made my way home carefully, still expecting to witness violence. But the place was quiet and very peaceful. As I walked, I saw some schoolmates along the road at two locations. To me they looked younger, much younger. But I knew I was older.
I did not really know where my home was but I was making my way there carefully. Then the dream ended.
Interpretation
On the surface, the gist of this dream has a straight-forward interpretation. It is that, all other things being equal, there is coming a time when Barbados is going to experience a spate of unprecedented violence perpetrated by our young men.
The fact that the shooters were in khaki is a suggestion that this will be done by school-age boys. There is already a gun violence problem in Barbados but this dream suggests that it will permeate the schools and worsen to the point where shooting will be indiscriminate. Even animals will not be exempt.
The Rastafarian man’s reference to the image of the dead horse as “art” is a suggestion that some people’s minds will have become so reprobate that the bizarre will seem entertaining. Of course, it does not mean that this is specific to this particular group of people per se.
However, such thinking is not at all strange because it is a fulfilment of the general biblical prophecy about the degenerate state of all human behaviour in our time. There are two biblical references that support this. The first is Romans 1:28 -32:
(28) Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done. (29) They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, (30) slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; (31) they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy. (32) Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.
The second reference is 2 Timothy 1: 1- 5.
(1) But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. (2) People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, (3) without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, (4) treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— (5) having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people.
The appearance of the black horse has another significance in that it resonates with the black horse of the book of Revelation found in Chapter 6. But here we must exercise some practical understanding in the interpretation.
The rider of the black horse is charged with the mission of creating economic hardship. This is evident from the commission and restrictions he has been given:
“Two pounds of wheat for a day’s wages, and six pounds of barley for a day’s wages, and do not damage the oil and the wine!” Revelation 6:6
Barley is often perceived as a less wholesome crop than wheat. In the ensuing economic times, it is affordable to the less privileged because they can buy six pounds with a day’s wage, whereas the same money will only allow two pounds of wheat which is regarded as the superior product. This clearly speaks to an unprecedented increase in the cost of living.
In the original Greek in which Revelation was written, the word used for “oil” here does not refer to petroleum, as one might assume, but to olive oil. The readers should check Strong’s Bible concordance for himself/herself.
Both olive oil and wine are important products to some countries of the Middle East, in particular the state of Israel. However, the deeper implications of that are beyond the scope of this dream.
We can, however, draw another chilling implication from the appearance of a black horse in this dream. It suggests that the coming spate of violence may be influenced by the economic hardship to come upon Barbados.
But we must note that the young men were not shooting and looting; they were just simply shooting anyone. It suggests a deep-seated, irrational anger that goes beyond issues of economic deprivation. If that is the case, we have a very serious national problem on our hands. Clearly, some of it seems to revolve around the school system, a fact that should not be of surprise to anyone.
There are two other but more positive aspects of this dream. The first one is that not all young men will participate in this violence so we should avoid painting all young people with the same brush. The second is that this perilous state is yet sometime in the future. That is indicated by the aging of the individual experiencing the dream.
Not all dreams are predictive; some are revelatory, meaning they explain the background to issues, events etc. Some can be both. This dream is clearly predictive. But all predictions need NOT come true as expected. We know this from the incident with the Old Testament prophet Jonah (See entire book of Jonah).
Jonah was sent to Nineveh, which is today’s Mosul in Iraq, to warn the ruler and the people of their imminent destruction because of their sin. Jonah knew that if the people repented God would forgive them and avert the destruction. So, interestingly he ran away from the job. At least he thought he had.
However, when God did get him back on track, he preached to the Ninevites, the people repented and God stayed his judgement.
Call to Action
Our call to action here then as is to take appropriate spiritual and social action to avert the consequences predicted.
Importantly, we have to reject the sociological theory which would have us believe that the real cause of violence is economic hardship or deprivation. If you take a glance around your community you will see young people, both male and female, trying to make an honest living through agriculture, online retailing and other ventures rather than get into dishonest and violent practices.
Such young people just have a different mindset. So there is no inevitability that a person must become violent because of economic deprivation. Therefore, I say the following without apology and without fear of a successful rebuttal:
The real source of our problems is always spiritual.
That is a fuzzy statement to some but it really has a simple meaning. Spiritual issues have to do with our mindset, that is, our thinking, our will and our decisions. Those are the core spiritual elements of our existence. It has nothing to do with religion necessarily. We know this because of the principle laid down in Scripture:
Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Romans 12:2a
But we must also be helpful and practical. That is why this writer, more often than not, will give young people a sale even though the product they are selling might not be needed.
Follow what is going on in the community because as this dream predicts, this is a matter that will NOT be confined to the inner city. Get your church involved in focused prayer- by which is meant, prayer that is focused on practical, desirable outcomes – and in meaningful projects that help young people.
Young people are only important once in every five years to those we who seek to be elected. The realization of this might very well be the source of some of the anger of the youth. However, to God, young people are eternally important. Let our own minds be transformed and see it from His angle.
