I recently had an experience with a former coworker that left a bad taste in my mouth. I had enjoyed working with this person when she was a government civilian and believed her to be an “upstanding” Christian, albeit not a spiritual one. Although she knew almost nothing about the Holy Spirit, she did mention God guiding her career in great detail at one of her going-away events. Since I always appreciate a good God story, I was happy to hear God get some credit for the blessings in her life. After that, I felt we could connect on the basis of being followers of Yeshua.
New Job, New Person
Then, she became a government contractor.
In her new role, she became a different person: a little bit like a used car salesman, always looking for an angle to sell her company’s services. One day, she called me to share a brilliant idea that would “help the government”. It required me to give her company center-stage in a military exercise.
I told her no.
She protested. She gave me many reasons why helping her company get center-stage would be “good for the government”. I told her that focusing on her company’s services alone would not be a realistic exercise. She gave me more reasons, mentioned how I could help all the people I used to work with on that exercise, even got another person to reach out to me with the same request…
I stopped reading their emails.
But it bothered me. Being a former “govie” meant she knew that as a military member, I cannot give one vendor preferential treatment over another; it is unethical and against the Federal Acquisition Regulation. Yet, she asked me anyway! Was her character so fluid—so shifty—that she could become whatever her new job required of her, even if it required her to lose her ethical boundaries? After all of those testimonies about God’s leading hand in her life?!???
Yuck.
It upset me so much that I had a dream about it that night. I don’t recall the dream, so I believe it was just emotional processing, but when I woke up, I decided to ask God how to process my emotions and what to do about the situation.
God Replies With a Vision About Sheep and Goats
One morning during my prayer time, I received a vision.
I was seated on a throne at God’s right hand and we were holding hands, like a king and a queen. When I looked down, I noticed I was wearing a red and gold gown. Many people were standing in line to present themselves to us in small groups in the court where we sat.
When the first group came before us, they said, “God owes it to us to call us sheep because we did this-and-this for Him,” but we said back to them, “Was that what God wanted you to do or what you wanted to do?” So we sent them past our thrones into a pen of goats.
A second group approached our thrones and said, “God owes it to us to call us sheep because we did all of these things in His name,” but we replied, “Does God know you that you used His name to do these things?” And off to the goat pen they went.
A third group came up and said, “God owes it to us to call us sheep because He created us” but we said, “Have you been for God in your life that God should be for you now?” So we declared they were goats.
A final group came up and said, “God owes it to us to call us as sheep because we suffered greatly at His hand on Earth”, but we replied, “You suffered not at God’s hand but at the hand of his enemies; do not accuse God.” And they were sent to join the other goats.
Interpreting My Vision
I know of several ways to interpret a vision (or a night-vision, AKA a dream from God). In this case, I used almost all of them, so I’ll take this opportunity to try to equip you with them for when you have to interpret visions or spiritual dreams for yourself.
1. Topics from Scripture
It always helps if you know what’s written in the Bible. Then, you can Google search terms from your vision, like “scripture about sheep and goats.” When I did that, I got this scripture:
“When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, He will sit on His glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate the people one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will place the sheep on His right and the goats on His left.” The Good News of Matthew, Chapter 25, Verses 31-33 in the Berean Study Bible
2. Imagery from Scripture
If you’ve studied the history of when, how, and by whom the Bible was written, you can get a sense of how certain authors used certain metaphors. I have learned that in Bible imagery (which relies heavily on Jewish culture), sheep are a highly valued, multi-purpose animal worthy of being offered to God as one of the highest sacrifices while goats represent a less valuable animal.
But what about the fact that I was sitting on a throne next to God and holding hands with Him? That came from from Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians, Chapter 2, Verse 6 in conjunction with Paul’s Letter to the Colossians, Chapter 3, Verse 1. So, I was somehow seated next to Yeshua, who was seated next to God the Father.
3. Scripture Interpreting Scripture
But what do sheep and goats represent in my situation? Well, sometimes you get lucky and the author tells you what he/she intends the metaphor to relay. Later in Matthew chapter 25, in verse 37, Matthew calls the sheep “the righteous” (AKA judged or approved as being upstanding) and calls the goats unrighteous.
4. Imagery From My Life
Where there does not seem to be any Bible-based topics or imagery, I ask myself what my own imagery may be. For example, I was wearing a red and gold gown. The only thing that a red and gold gown reminds me of is a traditional Turkish wedding dress, implying that I was God’s bride. Holding hands with God also implied I was God’s Queen.
5. Ask God for Interpretation
But I wanted to be sure, so in the vision, I turned to God on my left and asked, “Am I representing the bride of Christ?” and God said, “Yes.”
Putting It All Together
If I had to put all of that together, I would say the vision meant, “The bride of Christ, who is seated with Yeshua in God’s throne room, is learning how to separate sheep from goats, the righteous from the unrighteous. The bride is learning that there are four types of people who seem to be faithful to God but are actually unrighteous people: those who try to manipulate others to do their bidding through obligation, through religion without relationship, through guilt and condemnation, and through accusation. If you ask them, they will tell you they are good people doing good things for God and man, but if you ask God about them, God will say they are not to be given the benefits of the righteous.”
Since I got this vision after asking God what to do about my former coworker’s tactics, I deduced that God was teaching me how to deal with her: recognize she’s a goat and send her away.
Final Thoughts
I want to give people the benefit of the doubt whenever I can, so I want to believe that people like my former coworker may not realize what they’re doing is incredibly damaging. They may not realize it’s hated by God because manipulation is a form of witchcraft. I hope that this blog post can set someone like her free of the oppression of manipulation, today!
“They will tell you they are good people doing good things… [but] manipulation is a form of witchcraft.”
Tenay Benes, tenaybenes.com
P.S. The featured image is from a traditional Turkish wedding dress for sale. Enjoy it!
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