The ABC

October 24, 2007

By Ernie Knoll

In my dream, I stand in a corridor with the angel known as the Herald. He is telling me that he was sent to show me something that is obvious to some but others are blind to it. He calls me by my heavenly name and asks if he may have my hand. I hold out my right hand and he says, “Please come with me.” We walk through a wall and quickly descend to the earth. As we near the ground, I watch as his wings fold and fold and fold and then disappear into his back. I then notice as his appearance changes and I no longer recognize who he is. He smiles at me, calls me by my heavenly name and says, “Do not fear; it is I, the Herald.” He is now dressed in regular street clothes and has the same physical imperfections that man has. He tells me he is to show me something.

We begin walking along a sidewalk when I notice I am in front of an Adventist Book Center (ABC). He looks at me once again as if to reconfirm he is the Herald, calls me by my heavenly name and says, “Observe and understand.” He opens the door and we walk inside. We are greeted by one of the employees. We begin walking around the store and the Herald points out things to me. He shows me certain storybooks that are on the shelves and says, “These should not be here. The Father is displeased that these books are in His house of study.” We walk over to the children’s area. He points to books and items that are not according to what is shown in Child Guidance. He says if parents would only read Adventist Home and Child Guidance they would understand.

We now walk over to the CD, DVD, and music section. The Herald points to the sign above the display. It says “Happening Tunes for Happening Times. Get Your ‘Vid’ On.” He looks at me and shakes his head. He says, “Nothing inspiring, just entertaining.”

Next we walk over to the Bible section. He shows me all the different versions then reaches down and shoves all the Bibles far away from one version. I reach down and pick up one of the Bibles left by themselves. The front says “Holy Bible” and “King James Version.” He looks at me and says, “This needs no explanation.”

We proceed to another aisle and notice all the Spirit of Prophecy books. The Herald looks at me and says, “Look closely.” These books are dusty and covered with a plastic wrap that is old and yellowed. He picks up a book, blows off the dust and wipes off the cobwebs. He then turns it around for me to see. The cover says The Great Controversy.

Suddenly an employee walks up and asks “Can I help you?!” It is not in a voice of wanting to assist us but as if to say, What do you think you are doing?! My angel looks at the employee and responds, “Yes, do you have Creeping Compromise?” The employee answers, “No, but we have some really great novels. It is all ‘the rage.’ ” The Herald says, “We would like to know if you have the book called Creeping Compromise by Joe Crews.” The employee looks frustrated. He replies, ‘Come and let’s go see if there are any in the ‘no one cares’ area of the loading dock.” We follow him back there and he asks the dock person if he has seen any Creeping Compromise. The dock person responds that they have not had that book in a long time. The manager walks up and asks the employee what he is looking for. When he discovers what it is, he tells us “That book is not what people are interested in. We have some really great hot novels just off the presses. Would you like to see them?” The Herald answers, “No, I have seen enough.” He looks at me and says, “We will leave for now.”

We go outside and begin walking down a sidewalk. We walk a very short way and stop. My angel puts his right hand on my shoulder and says, “God watches all.” He tells me to watch. I see a man I do not know but sense that he is a Seventh-day Adventist and well-grounded in the Bible and Spirit of Prophecy. He walks past and goes into the ABC. Moments later all the employees leave the ABC with their personal belongings. As the manager walks out and passes us, I ask him what happened. He replies, “We were all told our services were no longer needed.”

The Herald now tells me to look up. The sky rolls back, angels descend and their wings fold and fold and fold again. Their appearance now changes into human form. My angel and I quickly follow the small group back into the ABC. I watch as the SDA man instructs the “angel employees” to place empty boxes onto hand trucks and put certain books into the boxes. While they are busy doing this task, the SDA man says to one of the larger angel employees, “Please get rid of that.” He is pointing to the CD, DVD and music stand. I watch as this large angel walks over, wraps his very large arms around the whole display stand and rips it from the wall with ease. We follow as he heads toward the end of the loading dock where a large dumpster sits. He hurls the display into it and smiles at me as he presses a button on the side of the dumpster. He continues smiling as this dumpster, which has a built-in compactor and chipping machine, grinds everything into small bits and then compresses it. He keeps smiling all the time while the machine is smashing and chomping the CDs and DVDs. I turn to see angels lined up with boxes of books on hand trucks. The large angel picks up a heavy box of books and throws it into the dumpster. He keeps smiling as the books are ground to pieces.

The Herald and I return to the inside of the store where we notice the SDA man in one of the aisles. He is on his knees cleaning and dusting books. As I get closer I notice it is the area where the Spirit of Prophecy books are kept. He lovingly takes each book off the shelf, removes its old yellowed wrapper and places it back on the shelf. Now the angels place many different Spirit of Prophecy books on the now empty shelves.

My angel and I go to the area where the Bibles are and now see only the King James Version. The angels are hanging banners. One is titled “Study as if it was your final.” Another has “Are you looking for answers?” The last one reads “He is the Word, the Author, the Truth, the Way.”

My angel and I now walk over to where the CD, DVD and music stand used to be. In its place is a bookshelf with hymnals. We walk to another aisle where we see rows of the book Creeping Compromise. As I look around I see an ABC filled with the things that the Lord wants. The Herald points out many other books that God wants in His “house of reading.”

The store is now full of customers. The angels work patiently with them, answering questions and pointing to information that is needed. An angel sits with children and tells them a Bible story. As other angels are showing different Spirit of Prophecy books, the customers take a great interest in what they are being shown. New customers continue to enter the ABC.

[Please note: Not all books, CDs, and DVDs were thrown away. There remained good books, CDs, and DVDs from inspired authors. Only the uninspired items were destroyed. The display that the angel ripped from the wall contained items that were not to be in the ABC.]