Hard Times
- 4 days ago
- 5 min read
I wish to share some things I saw while praying yesterday, along with an attempt at interpretation. As with anything like this, I think we need to each individually ask, "God, if this is you, what does it mean?" And then ask the next question-- "God, what do you want me to do with this information?"
In the first vision, I was talking with a woman who was desperate to sell something-- anything!-- to generate some cash. She asked to show me some stuff in her basement. It was dark and musty down there, but she had a flashlight. All she had that looked remotely interesting was a pile of three or four old skateboards. However, I never learned how to use one when I was young, and now my body is much too fragile to try to learn. I passed on the opportunity.
In the next vision, I was in a store and standing at the counter to make a purchase. In front of me was an antique cash register. It was a manual cash register, and had a patina to it like maybe it was made of brass. National Cash Register made these in the early 20th century. Next to it on the counter was a shallow tray with a pile of loose coins; old quarters, nickels, and dimes (but no pennies.) They were worn, and very dirty. On top I saw a one-ounce silver coin. It caught my attention because it was larger than the others, very shiny, and had been crudely chopped in half. Only the right half was in the tray. I picked it up and examined it, and saw on the face a soaring eagle. The vision ended.
While I was thinking about these two visions, Habakkuk 3:17-19 came to mind. Here it is, quoted from The New International Version:
Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines,
though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food,
though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls,
yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior.
The Sovereign LORD is my strength;
he makes my feet like the feet of a deer,
he enables me to go on the heights.
For the director of music. On my stringed instruments.
But what do these things mean? Good question! I think that when taken together and combined with the scripture passage, they mean that hard times are coming. In the first vision, the woman was trying to sell stuff to make ends meet. She wasn't trying to sell valuables. It was more like she was trying to sell anything. She didn't care what anymore. She just needed the money. She didn't elaborate on her situation, but I could sense her desperation.
In considering the second vision, I am intrigued by the old-fashioned cash register. Why an antique manual cash register? Why no credit card machine? Is the electricity out? Is the power grid down? Are the old coins there because that is the preferred payment method, once again-- because of their 90% silver content? And what about the bright silver half-coin? I believe the soaring eagle places the location as America, since the eagle is our national symbol. The design looked familiar to me, but it is not the design of the current US Mint Silver Eagles, or of any previous ones that I can find online. It might have been a "round"-- a silver one-ounce medallion made by a private mint but not considered "money." Bald eagles are a popular design element for private mints, but I think in this context it represents an official US Government Mint Silver Eagle of a new design.
But why was it cut in half? Several potential interpretations come to mind. Perhaps as a practical matter, they buyer didn't want to blow a whole one-ounce silver coin on a loaf of bread, so they cut it in half. That's plausible, but I think the soaring eagle design makes the interpretation primarily symbolic. In the financial realm, I think this half-a-coin suggests that the purchasing power of the currency will be worth half as much. I have a high level of confidence in this interpretation, but I may be biased. I follow current events in the financial space closely, and many voices are projecting that the US Government will deal with its national debt the old fashioned way-- by inflating the currency. Doing so will naturally reduce purchasing power, so this interpretation seems very reasonable to me.
There may also be a political interpretation. As I think about the coin, I could only see the right side of the coin, with the soaring eagle. What was on the left side of the design? Was it another eagle? Does chopping the coin into two halves represent political division? We are certainly moving in that direction. Will it actually come to a full civil war and a separation into two independent countries? I don't know, and God hasn't shown me.
The interpretation God gave immediately after the visions was the Habakkuk 3 passage. Let's consider it again:
Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails, and the fields produce no food...
To me, this represents crop failure.
Though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls...
Sheep and cattle represent not only protein-on-the- hoof, but moveable wealth. And they were gone. Taken together, these lines paint a picture of collective starvation and financial ruin. Scholars tell us the book of Habakkuk was written around 605 BC, around the time the Babylonian army invaded Judah. Standard operating procedure was for the occupier to steal the crops and the livestock to feed their army. Add in a drought (un-recorded but plausible) and people would be in a serious crisis. Habakkuk paints this word picture not as a hypothetical, but as their current situation. They were in crisis. But here was his heart's response:
Yet I will rejoice int he LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior.
But why, you ask? How can he be joyful in this desperate situation? He answers that Why question by giving his personal testimony;
The Sovereign LORD is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of the deer, he enables me to go on the heights.
The deer referred to were amazingly sure-footed, and could stand like mountain goats on steep rocks, where predators could not reach them. God wasn't taking his hard circumstances away. Instead, God was giving him strength. And notice this last part?
For the director of music. On my stringed instruments.
This wasn't just poetry. Habakkuk wrote a worship song. His heart in the middle of those hard circumstances was to worship. So here is my prayer today: That God will show us what these things mean, show us how specifically to prepare for hard times, and that He would put a song in our heart today-- regardless of our circumstances.
For the director of music. On my stringed instruments.
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Love this Pete . Thanks