Dream #4- March 2, 2018 (on Purim): CORRUPT REAL ESTATE TYCOON TAKES OVER JERUSALEM

In this dream, I was in Jerusalem and was associated with a Messianic congregation & outreach that had headquarters in the Old City in Jerusalem, the City of David. It was a worship sanctuary adjoined to a house of study and dormitory building. There were other Messianic ministries near us that had prime real estate in the City of David, near the Temple Mount, and in the shadow of the Mount of Olives. All the ministries were in restored ancient buildings, having both an original part built with ancient stones and design, and an annex of new stones and design. But the old and new fit together perfectly. Each ministry building had played a role in ancient Biblical history, and those roles were central to the message of each ministry.

The ministries were in a state of panic because a slick real estate developer was using intimidation and bribery to muscle the ministries off their piece of real estate. He was a godless, corporate gangster from the West, a shadowy figure because no one ever saw him or knew what he looked like. He used a representative or proxy to stand in for him publicly. All we knew was that he was ruthless with no morals, & his public spokesman making deals on his behalf was a crass "goon" associated with the Mafia.

Some ministries were being oppressed with increasing taxes that were almost impossible to pay, because the Jerusalem city government was in this man’s pocket. So, many ministries lost their real estate, land & building, over taxes. Some ministries’ leaders who overcame and found ways to pay were threatened with bodily harm, and some indeed suffered violence and fled from their turf. And finally, the congregations that were still standing, managing to pay the taxes and holding their own against the violence, were invited to a meeting with the developers. 

I was selected to represent my congregation at this meeting. They were promising the ministries that if they would sign over their land and properties, that they would relocate them to the new, recently developed expansion of Jerusalem, near a shopping center, and build a bigger & better facility. I was sitting in the meeting in a conference room in a city government complex, with several rows of chairs set up auditorium style. I was sitting next to someone, who in real life was a recent member at the fellowship I attended at the time of the dream (months after this dream, she discreetly left the congregation). After the agents and marketers made their pitch, they unveiled architectural models of new worship centers, made to look like white limestone with brass trim, as if each worship & ministry center was part of a modern, relocated Temple complex. We were all invited to walk up to their table and turn in the signed contract for our respective ministries, deeding the ministries’ buildings and lands to the developer. Once a ministry handed over its signed agreement, the agents would give to each representative an architectural model as a pledge for their promised new building.

I was in line waiting to make the exchange, feeling some uneasiness about the whole arrangement. I was alarmed at the enthusiasm that these ministry leaders had for this deal, even though they had already seen & experienced first hand the blatant evil, immorality, and brutality that this developer embodied. It was as if their Godly discernment and resistance had been turned off because they were being relocated with a perceived upgrade. They seemingly forgot that the main reason for our fight to stay in our facilities in the Old City was because of their prophetic and strategic significance in the plans & purposes of God.

I couldn’t share my alarm and concern to anyone because it was an atmosphere where we didn’t know “who was who” anymore…anyone could be in the pocket of the corrupt developer. Also, the city government complex where the corrupt developer had his headquarters was under heavy surveillance with cameras and microphones. Suddenly, while there were just 3 people ahead of me in line, I looked down at the paper in my hand and discovered that it was not my ministry’s signed agreement; I had picked up the wrong paper out of my bag. I glanced toward my seat, where my former congregation member was still in her seat next to it. She put her hand on my empty seat as she was getting out of her seat. As I approached my seat to grab the actual agreement I needed, I could see she had put a piece of paper with a note scribbled on it in my seat. When I got there, she was headed toward the door & she glanced at me before slipping out. On the other side of the agreement that I was going to turn in, she had scribbled “DON'T DO IT! IT'S A TRAP”. When I saw this, I suddenly became aware (maybe by revelation), that in signing the agreement and turning it into the corporation, ministries were not just signing over their facilities in exchange for an upgrade, but they were also signing over control of their ministry, including the teachings, messages, and operations. It’s as if that clause was in invisible ink on the contract. I folded it and let a few minutes pass while I pretended to look for something in my bag as I slipped the paper in. At this point, the developers were busy signing people up under the new agreement, so I quietly slipped out of the room. The rest of the dream was spent going down stairwells and hallways, trying to stay out of view of surveillance cameras and other people, as I made my way to the front lobby. I had a sense that once I got out of the building, I’d be in the clear. Then I woke up. INSIGHT: This dream is a warning to God's people to be consistent, maintain integrity, and to "know them by their fruit" instead of by what they offer you. We are living in deceptive times. As believers, what must have discernment about who we enter into agreement with. It's not enough to look at what we stand to gain by entering into an agreement or by supporting a cause. We must always discern whether they're motivated by the same things as us, and what hidden strings are attached.