CHRISTIAN FINE ART GALLERY > SIGNS OF THE TIMES SERIES > Please Listen To Me
Original Artwork: ONFS, 110cm x 145cm (43.5″ x 57″), Acrylic on Canvas
This painting was inspired out of a number of End Times dreams that all bore a similar theme: An unprecedented deadly storm was rapidly approaching which would claim many lives. Oftentimes I am the only one who could see the storm, and though I would shout and shout for people to come and be safe in my “Father’s house”, most people ignore me and perish. Only a few responded to my desperate cries and were saved. Please listen to me.
Artist’s Reflection:
“Now, brothers, about times and dates we do not need to write to you, for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, ‘Peace and safety,’ destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.” (1 Thessalonians 5:1-3)
[Jesus said,] “No one knows about that day or hour [when Jesus will return], not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man [Jesus]. For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.
Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.” (Matthew 24:30-44)
The first several End Times dreams God gave me were all very similar. Though different ones had additional events or different details, below is the basic storyline of them all. This painting illustrates that storyline:
There is a very violent, large storm advancing upon us. I almost always see tornadoes in these storms, sometimes several in the sky at one time. Sometimes they are in the same area in the sky; sometimes they are surrounding us. When there are several tornadoes, they usually seem to be different sizes and different distances away from me.
(In nearly all of my End Times dreams (not just these first several which I am describing now), this violent storm is featured in some way. They are symbolic of the wrath of God being poured out during the End Times (on account of sin). “See, the storm of the LORD will burst out in wrath, a whirlwind swirling down on the heads of the wicked. The anger of the LORD will not turn back until he fully accomplishes the purposes of his heart. In days to come you will understand it clearly.” (Jeremiah 23:19-20). Furthermore, with each End Times dream I received (of the first dozen or so), the storm and tornadoes advanced closer and closer in each successive dream until, in the final dreams of this series, the storm was finally upon us.
My actions are always the same:
I am running to take shelter before the storm hits. This is almost always in my dad’s house in Minnesota, USA. (The symbolism of my dad’s house has appeared in a number of my End Times dreams as well as other (non-End Times) prophetic dreams I have had over the years. It has been revealed to me that this imagery is symbolic of my Heavenly Father’s (God’s) house. God’s house, his dwelling, is a place of sure refuge and safety through any storm. “If you make the Most High your dwelling–even the LORD, who is my refuge–then no harm will befall you, no disaster will come near your tent.” (Psalm 91:9-10)).
In these dreams I am often the only one who notices that the storm is approaching even though the signs are blatantly obvious in the sky. In at least one of these dreams there were several other people who also knew the storm was coming (and they all reacted in the same way I did). I believe these other people were symbolic of other Christians.
As I am taking cover in my Father’s house, I notice many people going about their regular business on earth. Sometimes they are children (symbolic of being naive and oblivious), who do not seem to know the storm is coming, nor are they taking cover with me.
([Jesus said,] “When evening comes you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red,’ and in the morning, ‘Today it will be stormy, for the sky is red and overcast. You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times.” (Matthew 16:2-3). In context, Jesus speaks this verse about people not being able to perceive the signs of his first coming. I am applying it to people not being able to perceive the signs of his Second Coming, just as Jesus himself warned in Matthew 24:32-44. This verse is descriptive of the people/children in my dream who do not see the storm though it is blatantly obvious.)
Filled with alarm and compassion for them, I run around and try to gather up as many people or children as I can and lead them into the safety of my Heavenly Father’s house.
One would tend to think that everyone within shouting distance would listen to me, look up, see the storm and take refuge. But in my dreams it is not like this at all; many people are very hard to convince and to gather into safety. Many (and in reality, “most”) people completely ignore me and continue on with their business or walk away from me. This is exactly like the scenario with Lot’s sons-in law, who thought he was only joking when he warned them about the impending wrath of God coming on Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 19:14)).
When my dreams feature children, they are often too busy playing with each other to pay attention to me or to notice the imminent danger they are in. They are often running around and laughing, being far too preoccupied with having fun than preserving their lives. These are just like the people in real life who spend their lives pursuing pleasure and happiness rather than paying attention to and heeding God’s warnings in the Bible.
[Jesus said,] “Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man [the days leading up to Jesus’ return]. People were eating, drinking, marrying and being given in marriage up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all.
It was the same in the days of Lot. People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all.
It will be just like this on the day the Son of Man is revealed [Jesus returns].” (Luke 17:26-30)
(The story of Noah can be found in: Genesis 6-9. The story of Lot and Sodom can be found in: Genesis 18:16-19:29. Jesus uses these Biblical events as examples of what it will be like in the days leading up to his return.)
[Jesus said,] “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away. Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with dissipation, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day [when Jesus returns] will close on you unexpectedly like a trap. For it will come upon all those who live on the face of the whole earth. Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man [Jesus].” (Luke 21:33-36)
Despite the clear signs in the sky and despite my warnings, franticness and earnestness, I am always dumbfounded at how many people are obstinate and insist on going their own ways. They refuse to listen to me and take shelter in my Father’s house, and I cannot do anything to save them! It is the worst feeling in the world knowing that they will all soon perish.
“We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way;” (Isaiah 53:6)
However, there are almost always a few people who listen to me. When they hear me, they realize the storm is coming and immediately take shelter in my Father’s house and are saved from God’s wrath and imminent destruction. Praise God!!!
“He [God] is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief.” (2 Peter 3:9-10)
(This is the end of the basic storyline of the first several End Times dreams I received, upon which this painting is based.)
Jesus declares that preceding his Second Coming, there will be “birth pains” on the earth in the form of false christs, wars, great earthquakes, famines, pestilences, fearful events and great signs from heaven (Luke 21:10-11, Matthew 24:4-8).
The Scriptures declare that immediately preceding his Second Coming, there will be a time when God’s wrath will be poured out upon all of those who stubbornly persist in their sins and who refuse God’s gracious offer of forgiveness and reconciliation to him through faith in Jesus Christ (See Revelation 6-16). This time period is often referred to as “The Great Tribulation”. (See “The Tribulation” (Signs of The Times Series)).
I believe, as do many other Christians, that the earth has been experiencing the “birth pains” for quite awhile. These birth pains will intensify until we enter the Tribulation, a time of exceeding distress and destruction. Jesus described the Tribulation in these words, “For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now–and never to be equaled again. If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened” (Matthew 24:21-22).
At the very least, I believe the tornadoes in these dreams symbolize the increasing birth pains. However, based upon a very powerful and significant End Times dream given to me a few years after this series (that also featured a violent storm–this one stretching from horizon to horizon), the destruction that it caused (wiping out a city of millions in a matter of seconds–and I had the sense that countless other cities worldwide were also experiencing the same destruction simultaneously) seemed to symbolically fit the Biblical description in Revelation 6-16 of the wrath of God which will be poured out during the Tribulation.
This brings us to the question of utmost importance:
How can we be saved from God’s wrath and find safety in our Heavenly Father’s house? (See “Message“).
First of all we must understand that God takes no pleasure in pouring out his wrath upon anyone (Ezekiel 33:11). Rather, God “…wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all men…” (1 Timothy 2:4-5). God himself declares that, “Mercy triumphs over judgment” (James 2:13); therefore, he longs to show us mercy (Isaiah 30:18) rather than to pour out his judgment upon us. (See “Today is The Day of Salvation” (Signs of The Times Series)).
First and foremost, we must understand that God created us to be in a loving, personal relationship with him. This is what he strongly desires to have with us.
Tragically, we have all sinned against him (Romans 3:23). Consequently, we are all alienated from God and cannot enjoy this kind of relationship with him. This is because God is perfect in holiness and cannot be in the presence of sin. Furthermore, because God is perfect in justice he must also mete out the just punishment for our sins, which is death and hell (Romans 6:23).
Even though we are severed from God because of our sins, he still deeply loves us (Romans 5:6-11). Therefore he has provided a way for us to be reconciled to him. He sent his Son, Jesus, to live the perfect, sinless life that none of us could live. Jesus then took upon himself all of OUR sins and bore the punishment for them through his death on the cross. (Isaiah 53). He rose from the dead three days later, making reconciliation with God possible for us.
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.” (John 3:16-18)
In order to be forgiven of your sins, reconciled to God and enter into a loving, personal relationship with him you must first repent (turn away) from your sins. Second, you must place your faith in Jesus, trusting in your heart that he has personally paid the punishment for your sins through his death on the cross.
When you accept Christ as your personal Savior like this, all of your sins (past, present and future) are forgiven and you enter into a beautiful relationship with God that will continue throughout eternity. In addition, once you have placed your faith in Christ you can rest fully assured that you will be spared from hell as well as the coming wrath of God in the Tribulation. This is because Jesus has fully taken the wrath of God for you in your place! Hallelujah!!! (Romans 3:22-26).
“They tell how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead–Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.” (1 Thessalonians 1:9-10)
“For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Thessalonians 5:9)
“Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.” (Hebrews 9:27-28)
“Whoever believes in the Son [Jesus] has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on him.” (John 3:36)