When Pastor led us to pray for freedom from traditions of men,
An unsettling and vivid scene unraveled before my eyes. I saw men looking unhealthy and gaunt, dressed in tattered rags. On their bonely necks laid chains that stretched far, connecting them to a massive stone wall in the middle of a barren, desolate land. I watched the men struggle to move the wall, but it was moving very slowly and each attempt seemed to choke them further.
In a distance was a river of clean water, the chained men scrambled for the river but their attempts were futile. I saw people unbound and free, they ran to the river and returned with water for the captives. I watched them offer sips to the chained men, once they acquired a taste for the water, they became strengthened and with renewed determination, the men crawled towards the river. When they finally reached it, they drank desperately, they lapped at the water like dogs.
When I looked back to the wall, I noticed a man whose chain was so tight and close to the wall that he was nearly hanging from it, choking constantly. He had no hope of getting any water from the river because of the restrictions of his position. His captors approached with a bottle of urine. The urine from the bottle was poured into his mouth, and he kept begging them for more to quench his taste. He was unaware of the river’s existence because the urine had also been poured into his eyes. Suddenly, someone appeared—a man with a sword. He struck at the chain, and though he freed the prisoner, the blade also slit the man’s throat. The act of freeing him looked evil, as the freed man staggered from blood loss toward the river, gasping for air. When he reached the river, he collapsed and fell head first, his head under the water. Everyone assumed he was dead, yet after the blood from his neck injury had mixed with the water until his body laid drained of blood, he came alive and was very energized.
I saw another man without chains, yet he was trapped in the wall. His body was petrified, his gold jewelry glittered but he stayed unmoving. A rescuer came to him, not with a sword, but with a simple bowl of water. He poured water on the parts of the wall the man was attached to, scrubbing it with his hands, repeatedly till the stone turned to sand, setting the man was set free. However, the rescuer made many trips to the river to bring enough water to complete the task, but eventually, the man was released
At the river, I noticed a man who drank endlessly. He was free, but he never went to share the water with others. He kept drinking and drinking, never moving, fixed at the river. He drank from the same small brown bowl others used to share the water. A demonic being appeared and offered him a large white bucket, it’s inside laced with white paint. The man accepted it, poured the water in and drank in bucketloads, unaware that the paint was poisoning the water. The being led him away from the river towards the wall, and he kept drinking from the bucket as they went hand in hand. Someone came to help him, spitting clean water into his face repeatedly. Initially the man was offended, but the spitting continued until the bitter taste of the poisoned water became obvious to the man and he spat it out. Then the demon spirit lost hold of him. Humbled the now free man drank only the spit from this rescuer as he was being led back to the river.
I looked back to the wall and noticed that its peak was touching the clouds. Men sat proudly on the top of the wall, but they still had chains on their necks. Demons appeared and pushed them down from the height, causing them to hang by their chain. However, they would resurrect and climb back to the top, only for the cycle to repeat. They were so high on the wall that no one could rescue them. I saw an eagle fly by and strike one of the men in the eye, he fell backward off the wall, but this time he did not resurrect. Someone appeared with a knife and cut the chain off his neck. The rescuer carried the man’s lifeless body to the river, there he submerged the body in the river. Slowly, the man came back to life, but he was weak, unable to drink without help. Someone spoon-fed him water until he grew stronger.
I watched as another man on the wall was cut open, revealing a stone inside him. When the man on the wall saw it, he jumped off the wall, and his chains disappeared, but he could not walk; he could only crawl towards the river.
I looked over the expanse and noticed a man who just stood in one spot. He had no chains but didn’t move or drink at all. He stayed rooted with his eyes closed and would smile at intervals as demons whispered in his ears. Kidnappers surrounded, captured him, dragged him to the river. He fought them fiercely, but they overpowered him and threw him into the water. When he rose from the river and opened his eyes, he was okay. However, the kidnappers put the man on a leash for a while because he kept trying to leave the river and return to his previous location. As time passed, he was released and drank of the river by himself.
Near the river, I noticed a man eating sand. He devoured it ravenously, growing heavier and heavier until he couldn’t move. Someone poured water over him, and he writhed like an earthworm touched by salt. Then the sand man picked up a sword and started slashing at the clothes of the rescuer, another came with a large tin bucket of water and denched the man, causing him to lose consciousness. He was then dragged and dropped into the river. He rose from the water fast and strong.
Amid the activities, I saw a woman in a scarlet dress, approached the people by the river. She offered them pieces of meat, enticing them to leave the river because there was more meat elsewhere. Those who followed she led away from the river, past the wall, and pushed them into a deep dark pit. In the pit, armored men watched those who fought for meat. They had formed a community, and those who had drunk water before (as most of them had) would vomit, and others would go and lick it up.
The scene shifted again. I saw a free man led by rabid dogs. Anywhere they led him, he was forced to go.
I watched a man at the river use a yellow sponge to drink water. He would dip it in the river, then squeeze the sponge for a drink. He repeated the action till his sponge was taken away. At the loss on his sponge he stopped drinking. An armored man appeared and gave him a new sponge, as he drank with this sponge, he became drunk and was led to the wall. At the wall, the armored man proceeded to chain him tightly to the wall. His chains were in an X-pattern, and he seemed to have fallen into a deep sleep.
I saw some free men in beautiful armor, whipping some chained men. They had big swords and held whips, as they pushed chained men deeper into the wall. Their ears and eyes where covered with armor, and they had demons riding on them (similar to the Final Quest). People poured water on them, but the armored men laughed, turned and struck the people. As I watched these armoured men I heard, “It would take a miracle to set them free.”
2nd July, 2023
Bro. JE
© GAMWATCH
