~ The Yellow Snake of Deception and the Age of Enlightenment ~

Certain dreams will not fade. Vivid and imposing, they leave a lasting impression. Unlike those feathery dreams that elude pursuit, staying just out of reach on the edge of the mind; these dreams refuse to be forgotten. And as strange as they first seem, almost instantly it all comes together to make perfect sense. When I dream this way, as I begin to pray and write down the dream, the Lord unfolds His clear interpretation and the message He wants me to understand.

He has made us for dreams and the time of sleep to communicate with us apart from the distractions of our waking hours. I fall asleep praying and often I dream into Him. Thank God for His loving care while we sleep.

As He cares for us, I believe He wants to keep us informed and partner with us in the doing of this life for His purposes. And He does it through dreams, visions, words, and all creation; and with all of these aligning with His Holy Word. Yes. He’s a mind-blowing God, and He wants us to know it.

“Be in awe of me,” He says. “There is no God like me!”

Could it be our senses are so overridden with images and hyped up graphics, that we have been artificially ‘awestruck’ to the point of saturation? Have we been desensitized to His true wonders? It takes intention to resist, withdraw from those distractions, and focus on Christ alone.

This is the key to discernment; being able to determine the real from the unreal and value the unseen over the seen.This is the key to discernment; being able to determine the real from the unreal and value the unseen over the seen. Click To Tweet

Dreams and visions from God will be real representations of the truth of God and perfectly aligned with His word. Only ask for wisdom and the Lord promises to give it liberally!

~ Discerning the Times ~

Many dreams documented in the Bible carried warnings. I personally believe that we are in the times prophesied by Joel 2.

Specifically, we are experiencing the outpouring of the Holy Spirit testified of by the prophet, with verses 28-29 being specifically related to dreams and visions being received by all kinds of people,

“I will pour out my Spirit on every kind of people:
Your sons will prophesy, also your daughters.
Your old men will dream, your young men will see visions.
I’ll even pour out my Spirit on the servants, men and women both.” Joel 2:28-29 (TLB)

The yellow snake dream continues to resurface in my mind since it came a few weeks ago. Besides a specific awareness in my own assignment, I believe it is a distinct warning to share with the church not to be deceived. After time and prayer, I realize it is important to share what He has shown me.  I will be faithful at all cost.

~The Dream ~

We were with a group at a preserve in the country apparently taking a tour, and someone yelled, “Hey! There’s a rattlesnake!” Suddenly, it was an “Indiana Jones to the Rescue” moment when this man who was leading us leaped into action; dramatically sailing through the air, balancing on a falling tree and swooping down to easily capture this creature. He returned it to us like a trophy.

The rescuer was standing over it and holding its bulging neck while another of his crew threw down a fence post to measure it and said loudly, “It’s bigger than it looks.” I was standing directly opposite the thing as it locked onto my eyes. It stared at me with intent and its neck bulged and expanded with visible strength. I was stunned by the distinct awareness that this thing hated me. It was focused directly on me as though we were in a face-off for life and death. The stare of this creature communicated clearly it wanted to do me harm.

The snake was of the brightest yellow and I kept thinking it didn’t look like a rattlesnake as I knew them to be, and there was no rattle, no sound or sign of it. Part of the deceit was this. It wasn’t a rattlesnake at all. But at this point, I still believed what they said, even though it did not comport with what I knew to be true of a rattlesnake. Instead of trusting myself, I thought they must know better.

Just as I was wondering why they didn’t hurry up and cut off its head, something caught my attention and I turned to see what appeared to be another snake just like it. It was wrapped around a fallen tree by a river. I pointed it out to our guide.  Again, as our heroic leader, he sprang into action, but this time what he retrieved was a bright yellow colored cloth, identical to the skin of the snake. He held it up close for me to examine and reassured me, saying, “See, it’s just a cloth.”

Just then I looked back to where the snake had been on the ground, and I saw the snake had become a small dog and they were preparing to destroy it just the same. I was shocked and disturbed, “Oh no. They can’t destroy a little dog!”

At that moment, I heard a loud voice say, “Things are not always what they seem!”

Instantly, I was completely wide-awake.

~ The Interpretation ~

Right away, I knew the rescuer was definitely a type and shadow of Jesus, my Savior. He was unafraid and reassuring, building my faith in him easily. He is the one who went after, retrieved, and stood over the snake, controlling it, even as it bulged in an apparent display of power. His ease in handling it was comforting. As the snake was opposing, positioned against me, he was still easily maintaining control of it.

Searching for pictures of a yellow snake identical to this one, I gasped at the exact likeness to the images of a python; the one that intends to squeeze the life out of us. Maybe I should have known, but I didn’t and it freaked me out a little that I missed it. It was a python.

The distraction of the other snake that turned out to be a ‘cloth’ of the same color and pattern was a representation of a covering over, deceit and intentionally distracting all attention away from the snake that needed cut off. It was a counterfeit, a look alike, and with the purpose of diverting attention from the actual deceiver.

During the distraction is when the change takes place. The little dog was unusual. It was small, almost puppy-sized, but mature looking. Its coat was like an Irish Setter, but it’s face was small like a beagle. I realized it was a ‘mix’ and indicative of the mixture of lies with truth that has permeated the church of believers.

~ Why It Matters ~

Warnings were stated throughout the New Covenant to the body of believers. Jesus didn’t hold back in telling us the signs of the times,

“All these are the beginning of birth pains. Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” ~ Matthew 24:8-14, (TLB)

I suggest this is our current place in time. Continuing to insist on the pure truth of the word of God cannot be overstated. Relaying the fact that salvation comes only by the name of Jesus, and staying strong in our study of the word are imperative.

Paul was strong in expressing his concern for the early church at Corinth. In fact, the entirety of 2 Corinthians 11 is one big fat warning about believers potentially being deceived.

“But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ. For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the Spirit you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough…For such people are false apostles, deceitful workers, masquerading as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. It is not surprising, then, if his servants also masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve.” ~ 2 Corinthians 11: 3-4, 13-15 (NIV)

Another warning specifically targeting the last days and the church is found in the book of 1 Timothy,

“But the Holy Spirit tells us clearly that in the last times some in the church will turn away from Christ and become eager followers of teachers with devil-inspired ideas. These teachers will tell lies with straight faces and do it so often that their consciences won’t even bother them.” ~ 1 Timothy 4:1-2  (TLB)

That’s pretty strong language right there. It says these are some in the church. They will not only turn from Christ, but will eagerly follow teachers with devil-inspired ideas. Read that one more time.

This warning is falling on so many deaf ears in the churches that only intense and continual prayer and warring in the spirit will turn hearts to repentance and open blind eyes. Purification always begins with the people of God and He is insistent on it. With or without us, He will have it. Click To Tweet

There are so many warnings that it’s hard to believe we don’t pay more attention to them. The number of cautions against false prophets and vain philosophies, deceits and traps of the enemy all should indicate the need for us to maintain our guard constantly.

This snake is the spirit of python and with its bright yellow color, the representation of the New Age and ‘spirit of enlightenment’ that would attempt to appear as the Spirit of Truth. This false enlightenment, the enemy appearing as an ‘angel of light’ is a spirit running rampant in the churches as few leaders are willing to address it properly and cut off its head. It is about that simple, but we continue to entertain it. We allow it in the name of tolerance and fear of division and in the name of sparing offense. This is the biggest lie of all. God is clearly a no compromise God. Pure Truth. That is the only choice.  Holiness. His Truth. Not your truth or Oprah’s truth or the other lies that there should be some respect given to the ‘many interpretations’ of the Bible or that there are ‘many ways’ to the Father. The truth is Jesus. There is none other.  We must absolutely hold fast to the charge in Ephesians to “Speak the truth in love.”  I recently heard a pastor say the more popular thing, ‘We will speak our truth in love.’ And there were ‘Amens’ all around. What a deception takes place with the change of one word.

“Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ.”   Ephesians 4:15 (NIV)

The Father who loves us is not hiding anything we need to know. Deception is of the enemy and the only weapon he’s got. If he can stay concealed and make us believe there is no harm, he can do the devouring work he intends. He detests being exposed. When we see the truth and speak it in love, we fight his attempts to steal, kill, and destroy. It is essential for us to maintain intense prayer, fasting, and worship in order to stay lean in the spirit and persevere against the enemy for the Kingdom of God.

^“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” ~ Ephesians 6:2 (NIV)

Remembering this as we move forward in the pure truth of the word,

“You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.  For,

“In just a little while,
he who is coming will come
and will not delay.”  

And,

“But my righteous one will live by faith.

And I take no pleasure

in the one who shrinks back.”

But we do not belong to those who shrink back and are destroyed, but to those who have faith and are saved.” ~ Hebrews 10:36-39 (NIV)

God help us.  For the cause of Christ Jesus, I surrender to Him alone.