Happy New Year!!! It's the first Tuesday of 2020 and if you're joining us for the first time or the 397th ('cause that's how many Tuesday's Musical Notes there are...check out the archives!!!), we want to assure you that you are in a place that is safe and secure. It also a place where you are guaranteed to hear tunes and tutelage. You will discover songs and synopsis all wrapped up in a twisted bit of tongue in cheek that is supposed to make you smile...you're not smiling...just a little grin? Anyway, it's Tuesday and it's time for the first Tuesday's Musical Note of 2020. Is this the day you've dreamed of?....
The debut single "Dreams" from The Cranberries was released in 1992, prior to being included on their debut album release. It peaked at #42 on Billboard's Hot 100 and has been featured in television shows: My So-Called Life (1994), Beverly Hills 90210 (1995), Being Erica (2005) and Gossip Girl (2012). It has also garnered the attention of several movie scores, including 1994's Safe Passage and The Next Karate Kid, 1995's Boys on the Side, 1996's Mission Impossible, 1998's You've Got Mail, 2011's Sound of My Voice and Prom, and 2018's Second Act.
The song was inspired by an early love of lead singer Dolores O'Riordan's, but not the former boyfriend of O'Riordan, Mike Mahoney who provided backing vocals for "Dreams"
O'Riordan's dreams were cut short as she died in 2018 in London of accidental drowning due to a blood alcohol content of 0.33%. She had arrived there from New York to work on her side project D.A.R.K and to enter into discussions with the record label BMG about a new Cranberries album.
Do you dream much while you sleep? I sure do. I've mentioned in previous notes (see below) that one of those dreams involves guys in red coats from the University of Arkansas, knocking at my door and saying "Mr. Cross we are here to inform you that you really didn't pass that accounting class during the summer of '87. We are here to revoke your diploma..." Then I wake up. Thankfully.
Other dreams take a more enjoyable bend. I literally remerchandise an entire store (usually 20-25,000 sq ft) and am having the time of my life. The only drawback to this dream is that I am completely exhausted from my night of "rest".
Dreams do have an impact however they manifest themselves. God used dreams in the Bible several times to communicate His plans to mankind. I am not sure that God spoke through the dudes in the red blazers or through me putting books on an endcap. But prior to the ascending of Holy Spirit at Pentecost, God used whatever means necessary to get His point across to men.
One of the first occurrences of God's dream communication is with Jacob in Genesis 28. We were visiting about Jacob and Esau (sons of Issac, grandsons of Abraham) before we launched the Christmas editions of Tuesday's Musical Notes. (Tuesday's Musical Notes - "December" (Collective Soul)
Jacob was sent away by Issac at the request of his mother Rebekah as she was afraid that Esau was going to kill him. Jacob had manipulated situations to his advantage over Esau and the fight was on. Rebekah suggested to Isaac that Jacob be sent away to their relatives to find a wife. Esau had taken a wife of the local residents much to Isaac and Rebekah's dismay and she didn't want that for her favored child Jacob. Plus it got Jacob out of sight and mind of Esau's revenge.
Let's pick up the story in Genesis 28:10-22 New American Standard Bible/The Message paraphrase of the Bible/King James Version of the Bible parallel
Jacob's encounter with the ladder in his dream changed his life forever. We don't see an account prior to this where God had interacted directly with Jacob. One would imagine that the realism behind any dream that God would send would be intense. God reiterated His promise He had made to Abraham and Isaac regarding the place where Joseph's dream occurred. God had told Jacob's forefather's that the land would be theirs and that their children would inhabit the land and be a blessing to the entire world. (That's much better than merchandising a store...) Jacob only needed to continue in what he was doing and listen for the next direction from God.
In reading this text, I find it curious that Jacob was not familiar with this promise. His father and grandfather were both given the same promise. Did they not tell Jacob or Esau? In fact, after his dream was over, Jacob says that this God will be his God "if" there is success in his current journey causing one to think that perhaps Jacob had not followed in Isaac's footsteps in his devotion to the Creator God who would come to be known as Yahweh. As a reminder, the stone that Jacob used for a pillow became a stone of remembrance and part of the act of renaming the area, Bethel. (Remember that city, it becomes very important later)
We see that the fulfillment of this dream does not occur in Jacob's lifetime. What kind of faith would Jacob have needed to tell the story to his future sons as each year Jacob did not see his dream come to fruition? It took the same kind of faith that it takes for us today as we believe in the promises of God through His Son Jesus. As we read the Bible (Old Testament AND New Testament) we see promises that have been made and come to pass, but we see many "dreams" that are yet to be fulfilled. We may never experience some of the events foretold in the Bible, but we can rest assured they will come to pass and that if we believe in the sacrifice of Jesus, we will one day have a complete relationship with God forever.
It would be close to 500 years before this dream would see its reality. But as we will see in future Notes, Jacob's dream about angels going up and down a ladder and his communication with God was passed down from generation to generation. God's provision for His people then and now never stops. God did give Jacob safe passage for the remainder of his journey and apparently Jacob never forgot his "rocky, ladder" filled night.
"Dreams" are not a new topic for Tuesday's Musical Notes. For more information and songs just click on the following:
Will this be the last time we take up the subject of dreams or dreaming? I doubt it, but you'll only know if you check back with us each week right here at Tuesday's Musical Notes!!!
'Til Tuesday,
Serving HIM by serving You,
randy
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