An Angry Bear

Dumitru Duduman - April 1997

    I knelt by my bed to pray, as I do every night before going to sleep. After finishing my prayer, I opened my eyes, but I was no longer in my room. Instead, I found myself in a forest. I looked around, and to my right I saw a man dressed in white who pointed his finger and said, “See and remember.” It took me a while to find what he was pointing at. It was a small bear who seemed half dead lying on the ground.
    As I continued to watch this bear, it began to breathe deeper. With every passing minute it seemed to revive itself, and, as I watched, it also became angrier. It then began to grow. Soon it was larger than the forest floor, and as it grew larger, it continued to become angrier. It then began to paw the ground, so that when its paw would hit the ground, the earth would shudder. The bear continued to devastate all that stood in its path until it came upon some men with sticks trying to fend it off. By this time the bear had grown so large that it simply crushed the men underfoot and continued its rampage.
    I was stunned by what I saw and asked the man standing beside me, “What does this mean?” “At first they thought the great bear was dead,” the man said. “As it will begin to stir once again, they will consider it harmless. Suddenly, it will grow strong once more with purpose and violence. God will blind the eyes of those that continue to trample on the sacrifice of Christ’s blood, until the day the bear will strike swiftly. This day will catch them unprepared, and it will be just as you saw.”
    The man then said, “Tell my people the days are numbered and the sentence has been passed. If they will seek My face and walk in righteousness before Me, I will open their eyes that they may see the danger approach. If they only look to the approaching danger, they, too, will be caught up and trampled underfoot. Only in righteousness will they find safety.”
    Suddenly, I was once again by myself in my room, on my knees, with sweat covering my face.