Redemption in the World: Beasts and Visions

Daniel’s Story

It had been a long time that Daniel and his friends had abstained from wine or any kind of strong drink. So when he woke up that morning, he wondered why on earth it felt like he had the worst hangover! He had had the most terrifying dream, and wondered what it could possibly mean. A lion, with eagle’s wings. A bear, terrible and roaring. A leopard, slinking in the shadows. And a fourth beast that Daniel couldn’t even find a name for. They were almost like childhood stories from his youth.

His youth. It seemed so long ago that it might as well have been a dream. Vague memories of his life in Jerusalem. Running through the streets. Laughing with his friends. It felt like another lifetime. Perhaps it was. This lifetime that felt more grounded in reality was one of real-life monsters. Kings who thought their power was from the divine. Back-stabbing politicians that desired the power and position that he could really have cared less about. A monarchy built on violence and destruction of the things that he valued. Perhaps it was not surprising that his dreams were filled with these monsters. In real life and in his dreams, lions breathed down his neck with the power to snap his neck at any moment.

Daniel had seen so many beasts in his time. When he was barely old enough to remember, he and his family had taken a trip to the north of his hometown Jerusalem. He remembered mostly images of homes destroyed, high places in ashes, even bones of warriors left out to bleach. Images that would haunt his dreams for a long time. He only remembered one word: Assyria. They were the cause of such destruction of his people. “The Ten Lost Tribes,” they called them sometimes. Little did he know on that trip that the Assyrians were only the beginning. He learned somewhere how lions hunt. The male lion will roar and send the prey running away, right into the jaws of the female lioness. Likewise, once the threat of the Assyrians was gone, a more dangerous one took their place: Babylon. After Israel was destroyed, Judah fell next. And the high place left in ruins this time was his beloved Temple in Jerusalem. Abducted from his people and place, he was placed in the center of the lion’s den, forced to learn and consume and worship the enemy that had killed his people.

And then the lion was gone. It didn’t make sense, but dreams usually don’t. In its place was a bear. Often quietly rumbling in the brush, one can easily come upon a bear and almost think it tame. But then its roar quickly dispels such notions. Such were the next empire that Daniel experienced: the Medes. Their king Darius prayed for Daniel, and his trust in Yahweh changed his heart. But he was a weak king, and like a bear that chased off and scavenged the kill of others, he and the Medes still worshipped the same violence and power struggles of the Assyrians and Babylonians. Lion. Bear. What was the difference?

Now a new voice whispered from the darkness. Like a leopard slinking through the shadows, the Persians came next. Some in history would remember them as saviors, returning his people to their land. But Daniel saw them as the oppressors holding the leash. Leopards toying with their prey. “Could we let the mouse back into its hole? Of course, as long as it serves as a distraction to the enemies at our borders. We’ll even give them some spare change to rebuild their walls. All the better to slow down the advances of the enemy.” In Daniel’s eyes, the Persians came with clear motives. Hold the mouse by the tail and let it think it is free.

As Daniel woke, and shook the perceived hangover from his head, he realized that he had been privy to some things that had not yet come to pass. People that perhaps had not even been born. Perhaps this is why this final beast was not even clear in form or shape. Daniel saw horns and mouths, and perceived it as more terrifying than all three previous beasts put together. Those who would record Daniel’s dreams in the centuries after that morning would remember his terror at the coming of what history would call the Greeks. An Empire like none other. Violence like none other. Stretching from Babylon to Egypt. From the sea in the north to the sea in the south. Seemingly no end to their oppressive fist. Daniel began to despair as he shook the sleep from his eyes.

But then he remembered the rest of the dream. A man had appeared. He was old, older than the mountains and the rivers and the stars. Older than the beasts. And he was wise. He saw the beasts for who they were. For their petty games of power. For the overindulgence in things of this world. For the love of violence. This Ancient One was older than the beasts, and to him they seemed like harmless bugs to swat away. Which he did. With an ease that astonished Daniel, the Ancient One waved his hand and the beasts were vanquished. For as much power as they seemed to have, the Ancient One’s power and dominion was far greater. A pebble next to a mountain. A dewdrop next to a raging river. A firefly next to a star burning hot. And with a smile and a wave of his hand, the beasts of this world were gone. And why was Daniel privy to this wisdom? These visions? Perhaps because he shared the work of the Ancient One. Resisting. Rejecting. Proclaiming. Standing tall when needed. Kneeling when needed.

Daniella’s Story

Tears streamed down Daniella’s face as the speakers boomed from the front of the auditorium. It was the last night of the youth rally and she felt the Spirit in the place. The music had moved her. The friendships she had made felt like they would last forever. But the thing that touched her the most was the preaching. So many powerful speakers, each of them hammering home the same message: “God loves you and wants to invite you on an amazing journey!”

The message meant something else to Daniella than it did to a lot of the other teenagers in the auditorium that night. Daniella had indeed been on a journey, but not always an easy one. Born in Nicaragua, she and her family fled when political violence erupted in their community. Political operatives were setting fire to homes and so she and her parents grabbed all that they could and escaped with a few possessions. Border after border, they made their way north, until they made it to the promise of family in the United States. On the day that they were to cross the border, she woke up in the middle of the night with a terrifying dream of beasts. Snakes and scorpions in the desert. Raging waters of the river they had to cross. Lying and deceitful men who promised safe passage but then sold them out to the government. Border agents taught to shoot first and ask questions later. She woke with a start, only to realize that the beasts weren’t at all imaginary. Before she slept again, she would see all of these things, and they would haunt her for the rest of her life. Her father, face down in the mud, shot at the crossing. Her mother’s screams as Daniella was torn from her arms. Separated for processing, but never again to be allowed to see one another.

All of that seemed so long ago and so far away to Daniella these few short years later. That night she never would have dreamed that she would ever be in a sanctuary so safe, singing songs so beautiful. Since it was the last night, there was an invitation for the youth to make a decision to follow Jesus, and many streamed up the aisle to talk with counselors up front. There was an invitation for youth to rededicate their lives to Jesus, and dozens more made the trip to talk to someone. Then there was an invitation for anyone who felt called into the ministry, and Daniella felt that explosion in her chest once more. It was like there was a story in her chest, trying to burst out. She closed her eyes and had a vision of herself standing where the preacher had stood. Watching herself holding the Bible, she was the one preaching. She was the one inviting more people to know Jesus. She was the one proclaiming, “God loves you and wants to invite you on an amazing journey.”

She almost ran to the front, and though she sometimes still struggled with the language, she told them that she wanted to become a preacher and tell people about the love of Jesus! The men at the front gave each other a look, and it felt like the beasts from her dream were back. They calmly explained to her that God could not have called her because she was a girl, and only men are called by God to preach. They explained that one day she could be able to have children of her own, and share the faith with them. Or if she learned the language a little better, she might be able to get a job caring for children at a Christian daycare, where she could spread the love of Jesus with the children. The beasts were back, but this time they were named racism and sexism. Arrogance and fear. Daniella ran down from the steps and straight out the back, filled with shame and guilt. How could she have been so stupid?

She sat against the wall and sobbed as the band played and the altar call continued. The final song was called “Ancient of Days,” but Daniella no longer felt like singing. A hand gently touched the back of her neck, and she peeked over to see the “old lady shoes” of Lisa, one of the sponsors from their church, who came and sat beside her. Daniella couldn’t bear the shame to look up to her, and wondered if she would even get in trouble or even get sent home for her foolish act. She sobbed more quietly now, as Lisa began to whisper in her ear, in Spanish! Daniella had no idea that she knew any Spanish, but now she spoke fluently:

“Daniella, God loves you and wants to invite you on an amazing journey. When I look at you, I see a young woman of fierce power, with a story to tell. When I was your age, men like that told me that I couldn’t preach either, and so I swallowed my story, and ignored my gift. But I cannot let you do that. When we get home, I want to introduce you to some of my friends. Women who preach week in and week out in churches where they are the senior pastor. Women who serve in seminaries that teach men and women to use their gifts. Even one woman who was born in Nicaragua, and is training to return home to preach at her home church.”

And while Lisa spoke, Daniella felt her chest exploding once again. Eyes closed, she saw one more vision before her. It looked like a wise old man, but he somehow seemed youthful and vibrant, like her. As the band sang about the Ancient of Days, she imagined that he was standing in front of her. “I love you and want to invite you on an amazing journey!” He was standing on the stage, where the preacher had stood a few moments before. When she joined him at the front, he motioned to the podium, where a large book was open: “This is your journey.” As she approached the pulpit, she saw out of the corner of her eye the beasts slowly creeping up toward the front. Racism and its many heads came in from the left. Sexism and its snarling fangs approached from the right. But the Ancient of Days stepped forward and with a wave of his hand, the beasts slunk back into the darkness, toothless, tail tucked between their legs. And with a new energy, and passion, and confidence, she stepped up to the book, and the auditorium hushed as she began to preach: “God loves you and wants to invite you on an amazing journey.”

What is your calling? Are you called like Daniella to tell your story? To tell the story of God’s love? Are you like Lisa called to nurture others? Perhaps young people navigating their own call? Are you called to stand beside the Ancient of Days, battling the beasts of arrogance and sexism? Fear and racism? Let us join the work together, in these days and the days ahead.