Falling Fire
Falling Fire: A dream given to Elizabeth Dolton, a close and respected friend of Rachel Williamson.
“I have come to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! But I have a baptism to undergo, and what constraint I am under until it is completed!” Luke 12:49-50
January 4th 2021
The night was dark and heavy and the hour was around 10:45pm. I was in a house on my family’s farm with my family (all believers) and we were half-heartedly going through boxes and collecting important items and documents for safe keeping. The atmosphere was happy as we chattered back and forth but we all felt a little foolish- the way you feel when you prepare for a storm, wondering if it will even arrive. I had a hunch that judgement was coming- fire raining down from the sky would arrive sometime late that night- definitely after midnight. We all had the same notion and that is why we were there. We were preparing. As I sifted through items, I noticed my husband wasn’t grabbing anything. He was skeptical, feeling like our actions were unnecessary. Observing his casual attitude, I thought to myself, “Well, if all his important documents burn up, it will be ME on the phone for hours trying to figure out how to replace them.” In my irritation, I grabbed a few things for him.
Time passed as we visited – our usual family banter. We casually mentioned the possibility of fire coming and we all felt that we had time to get home where we would be safe for the night. Suddenly, I realized it was getting late… later than I thought! 11:30. We needed to get home. My kids and I hustled out the door and my husband, last minute, decided to turn back and grab his items.
We stepped into the dark night carrying our things and then I saw it. In the distance a streak of orange embers trickled down. They wafted like delicate embers from a fire and fell on the dry cornfield surrounding us. Again, another streak of embers fell in the distance. Urgency hit-It wasn’t even midnight! We yelled to each other hustling everyone out of the house. The kids ran to the fields trying to make their way to my mother’s house. Hot orange embers shot down with increasing intensity. Urgency turned to chaos and I yelled to my husband for help as I ran after my kids. At this point, hot embers were raining down from the sky. Suddenly, my husband pulled up in a large truck and my daughter reached out and grabbed me. For a brief moment, I looked around and noticed little fires everywhere, especially in the cornfields where the dry corn ignited into flames. Then I looked down at my shirt- a beautiful royal purple, and it was covered with glowing orange embers. They did not burn me. I shook them off and jumped inside the truck with my family.
Then I woke up.
A few thoughts. I prayed that the Lord would back this dream up with scripture and he gave me Luke 12 as a response. Please read Luke 12!
1. The time and the progression of time in my dream is extremely significant! The fire arrived early and we were caught off guard. This has set heavily on my heart. I believe it is a warning to God’s people that the time of judgement is coming sooner than expected. (read Matthew 25:1-13)
“Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning, 3like servants waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet, so that when he comes and knocks they can immediately open the door for him. It will be good for those servants whose master finds them watching when he comes. Truly I tell you, he will dress himself to serve, will have them recline at the table and will come and wait on them. 38 It will be good for those servants whose master finds them ready, even if he comes in the middle of the night or toward daybreak. 39 But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. 40 You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.”Luke 12:35-40
2. The time of this dream takes place during the dark days of winter. The corn is bleached and bone dry. The dry remnants from harvest remain on the fields. This would be something you’d see in December or January on my family’s farm in Colorado.
3. We definitely had a casual attitude about the fire before it happened. I’ve been really convicted about my casual attitude towards the signs I’m seeing and the warnings God has put in my soul. If judgement is near, am I spreading the gospel like I should be? Am I loving my neighbor? Am I living like every human life matters to God? Am I speaking boldly?
“The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you,[a] not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies[b] will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.” 2 Peter 3: 9-10
“When you are brought before synagogues, rulers and authorities, do not worry about how you will defend yourselves or what you will say, 12 for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you should say.”
4. I believe my husband’s original flippant attitude and my frustration with him (no offense, Dan) might be a picture of God’s frustration with the attitude of his children right now. I know plenty of believers who think there is no meaning to what is happening in the world. They believe all will pass and things will return to normal. They are not ready for him!
“He said to the crowd: “When you see a cloud rising in the west, immediately you say, ‘It’s going to rain,’ and it does. And when the south wind blows, you say, ‘It’s going to be hot,’ and it is. Hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky. How is it that you don’t know how to interpret this present time?” Luke 12:54-56
5. There was no fear in this dream. It felt extremely disturbing and urgent but not scary. I don’t believe God would ever give me a dream to place fear in my soul. This dream felt SO urgent though! God started telling me “Do not be afraid” over and over in 2020. I pray that he will remove all fear and help us live courageously.
“I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more. But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear him who, after your body has been killed, has authority to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him. Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.” Luke 12:4-7
6. The ending of this dream is very significant. I believe the purple shirt (which was such a beautiful shade of purple!) represents Royalty- God’s child. While I was enduring the judgement, I was unharmed by the burning embers.
7. Another image that was very significant to me was dark, thick, heavy night. Years ago (2016?) God gave me several vivid dreams of twilight falling on our land with the phrase “The darkness is coming.” There were specific events in those dreams that now have come to pass. I believe the twilight has now turned into dark night. The hour is late now.
8. A side note about the night… This time of year is always hard for me because of the darkness. This year the darkness feels more suffocating than ever. I am convinced the collective anxiety is linked to the increased darkness, both physical and spiritual. Here is a quote I saw from another believer posted yesterday. I agree with this wholeheartedly:
a. “It is very important to see what is happening spiritually and to discern the signs of the times. It is very dangerous not to know the times we are living in.” – Shana Joseph
9. If I could sum up the message of this dream it would be- Wake up and prepare because hard things are coming. Believers will endure hardship but we do not need to be afraid! We are his children, set apart for a glorious destiny with our Lord Jesus. Hardship will be the refining fire. Let us spend less time worrying about the things of this world now. Instead, let us spend more time in prayer and in his word. He will equip us and give us what we need when we need it.
The hour is late. Wake up! Our bridegroom is coming.
By, Elizabeth Dolton
Luke 12 NIV
Warnings and Encouragements
12 Meanwhile, when a crowd of many thousands had gathered, so that they were trampling on one another, Jesus began to speak first to his disciples, saying: “Be[a] on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. 2 There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. 3 What you have said in the dark will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in the ear in the inner rooms will be proclaimed from the roofs.
4 “I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more. 5 But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear him who, after your body has been killed, has authority to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him. 6 Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. 7 Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.
8 “I tell you, whoever publicly acknowledges me before others, the Son of Man will also acknowledge before the angels of God. 9 But whoever disowns me before others will be disowned before the angels of God. 10 And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.
11 “When you are brought before synagogues, rulers and authorities, do not worry about how you will defend yourselves or what you will say, 12 for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you should say.”
The Parable of the Rich Fool
13 Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”
14 Jesus replied, “Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?” 15 Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.”
16 And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. 17 He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’
18 “Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. 19 And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’
20 “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’
21 “This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.”
Do Not Worry
22 Then Jesus said to his disciples: “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. 23 For life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. 24 Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds! 25 Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life[b]? 26 Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?
27 “Consider how the wild flowers grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 28 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you—you of little faith! 29 And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it. 30 For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them. 31 But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.
32 “Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. 33 Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will never fail, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. 34 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Watchfulness
35 “Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning, 36 like servants waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet, so that when he comes and knocks they can immediately open the door for him. 37 It will be good for those servants whose master finds them watching when he comes. Truly I tell you, he will dress himself to serve, will have them recline at the table and will come and wait on them. 38 It will be good for those servants whose master finds them ready, even if he comes in the middle of the night or toward daybreak. 39 But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. 40 You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.”
41 Peter asked, “Lord, are you telling this parable to us, or to everyone?”
42 The Lord answered, “Who then is the faithful and wise manager, whom the master puts in charge of his servants to give them their food allowance at the proper time? 43 It will be good for that servant whom the master finds doing so when he returns. 44 Truly I tell you, he will put him in charge of all his possessions. 45 But suppose the servant says to himself, ‘My master is taking a long time in coming,’ and he then begins to beat the other servants, both men and women, and to eat and drink and get drunk. 46 The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the unbelievers.
47 “The servant who knows the master’s will and does not get ready or does not do what the master wants will be beaten with many blows. 48 But the one who does not know and does things deserving punishment will be beaten with few blows. From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.
Not Peace but Division
49 “I have come to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! 50 But I have a baptism to undergo, and what constraint I am under until it is completed! 51 Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division. 52 From now on there will be five in one family divided against each other, three against two and two against three. 53 They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”
Interpreting the Times
54 He said to the crowd: “When you see a cloud rising in the west, immediately you say, ‘It’s going to rain,’ and it does. 55 And when the south wind blows, you say, ‘It’s going to be hot,’ and it is. 56 Hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky. How is it that you don’t know how to interpret this present time?
57 “Why don’t you judge for yourselves what is right? 58 As you are going with your adversary to the magistrate, try hard to be reconciled on the way, or your adversary may drag you off to the judge, and the judge turn you over to the officer, and the officer throw you into prison. 59 I tell you, you will not get out until you have paid the last penny.”
Rise and Prepare
