The Sleeper Must Awaken
As a dream when one awakes, so O Lord, when you awake, you shall despise their image. Psalm 73:20 Hebrew World translation
Dream – Ah, so you didn’t realize that Frank Herbert[1] employed Hebrew thinking, did you? Well, maybe it was just an accident (really?). The Hebrew word halom (dream) has a decidedly different use in the Tanakh than similar concepts in other ancient near-Eastern languages and cultures. We know this because the Tanakh contains no explicit theory about dreams or psychic states with religious significance. Yes, God does communicate through dreams. Yes, there is a difference between ordinary dreams and the ones God uses. But, no, there is no development of dreams as some sort of tool for understanding the divine world. Unlike many pagan cultures, dreams are not looked upon as pathways to the gods. All of the contemporary hubbub about God revealing His plans in dreams (and visions) smacks of pagan magic, not Scriptural occurrences.
When Asaph uses this word, he merely notices that no action in the world occurs when one dreams. You have to wake up before you can do something. So Asaph remarks that God’s present apparent inactivity regarding the wicked will vanish as soon as He pays attention to them. He will be (metaphorically) like a man who wakes up and gets going. And when that happens, look out!
God, of course, neither slumbers nor sleeps. But sometimes it appears as if He does. That’s Asaph’s point. While the wicked seem to get away with everything, it appears as if God is unconscious of their disobedience, their violence and their arrogance. But He is not! The time will come when action is required. The dream will be over. The hand of God will be seen in justice. From our point of view, things will eventually be put in proper order. But from God’s point of view, His purposes now require that men notice His absence. The real truth is that God isn’t dreaming, but we are!
When God is moved to act, something quite extraordinary will occur. He will despise their image. The better translation is perhaps, “He will hold their image in contempt.” Basically the verb means “to count of little worth.” It is a word often found in connection with disobedience. But here it is in an unusual combination because the word for “image” is tselem, the same word used in Genesis 1 to describe God making Man in His own image. Can God count as little worth something that reflects Him? Apparently so. How is this possible? How can God hold in contempt His own image in men? The answer seems to be that the tselem (image) is not like a substance inherently resident in human form. It is much more like a trust given to men to exercise. When it is not used as intended, the image is marred and loses its value. The dynamic quality of God’s reflection dissipates until all that is left is a reminder of what should have been but never was. We might say in contemporary terms that the wicked are left with the ghost of humanity.
Isn’t this precisely the same imagery we find in the parables of the talents? The master entrusts assets to the servants. Those who use the assets are rewarded with extended usefulness and responsibilities. The one who seeks only to protect the asset (and so does nothing with it) is not only punished, he is cast into outer darkness without any possibility of forgiveness. He is removed from the Kingdom of God and of men. The image of the master is found in the use of the assets, not in their possession.
And that’s the problem of the wicked. They believe that being human means possessing life and its rewards, while Scripture teaches that being human is using life and its abundance to further the King’s objective. As a result of their choices, they progressively become non-human.
So where are we, my friends? Are we on the journey to gain or the road to usefulness? The whole world believes God is asleep at the switch. They have no idea that by burying their treasure they are burying themselves.
Topical Index: Psalm 73:20, image, tselem, dream, halom, despise, baza
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[1] Frank Herbert was the famous author of the Dune series. He wrote, “Without change, something sleeps inside us, and seldom awakens. The sleeper must awaken.”
Skip,
I loved this message and have forwarded it to a few friends who are called to spreading the message of generosity and stewardship of all gifts.
I followed your dream discussion up to one sentence, which I either do not agree with or do not understand: “All of the contemporary hubbub about God revealing His plans in dreams (and visions) smacks of pagan magic, not Scriptural occurrences.” I view scripture as full of examples of God revealing purposes and plans through dreams. What are you really aiming at here?
Blessings brudder.
Paul, here’s something you might consider in light of todays religious culture.
Mat 16:1-4
The Pharisees also with the Sadducees came, and tempting desired him that he would shew them a sign from heaven.
He answered and said unto them, When it is evening, ye say, [It will be] fair weather: for the sky is red. And in the morning, [It will be] foul weather to day: for the sky is red and lowring. O [ye] hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not [discern] the signs of the times?
A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given unto it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas. And he left them, and departed.
Much like todays enviroment, they were looking for something “special” to validate that a message was from God. All they really had to do is look at the plain rendering of the word that was given to them. It’s not that God doesn’t, or can’t use dreams and visions, it’s just not the “primary” means of His communication.
If we’re not in alignment with Him, in love and obedience of a pure heart, what would a dream, vision or sign do for us? Skip’s right, it’s left in the realm of paganism and mysticism and it becomes dangerous for us and the world at large, leading us away from God, not to Him.
A wicked and ADULTEROUS generation seeks for a sign……ie; not for God.
Light reveals. Darkness conceals.
~ for it is light that makes everything visible. This is why it is said: “Wake up, O sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you ~ (Ephesians 5.14)
~ The LORD has announced His victory and has revealed His righteousness to every nation! ~
(Psalm 98.2)
~ I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which He has called you, the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of His mighty power, which He performed in The Messiah and raised Him from among the dead and set Him at His right hand in Heaven, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come ~ (Ephesians 1.18-21)
~ No man lights a lamp and sets it in a hidden place or under a bushel but over a lamp stand, that those who enter may see its light ~ (Luke 11.33)
Frank Herbert was the famous author of the Dune series. He wrote, “Without change something sleeps inside us, and seldom awakens. The sleeper must awaken.”
Hmmm
Well I never read any of F.H.’s work, I’m embarassed to say, but have always considered myself something of a change agent
For me change has always been a core value
A number of years ago at Cisco Systems, I said something to that effect in a survey and my life changed dramatically after that
I saw John Chambers, the president of Cisco, on Charlie Rose the other day and was amazed that he has not changed at all since I saw him last
I learned a lot from JC, and am very proud to have worked way way under him
And, coincidentally, I met Skip when working for JC, the so called “God Father” of Cisco Systems
And have leaned a lot about the meaning of life since then