The Cleansing Stream Vision

By Hazel Holland

Introduction

Hundreds of Christians representing many different denominations and churches in the body of Christ were worshiping the Lord along with me at this Cleansing Streams Seminar on November 19, 1995 when I received this vision.  We had chosen to come together on this particular weekend for one purpose, because we wanted to experience personal cleansing and deliverance from the strongholds of sin in our lives.

As we were lifting up our hands in praise to the Lord, singing the song, "God is My Redeemer", I saw this dark and desolate wilderness emerge before my eyes.  It was very bleak and covered with a thick blanket of snow.  How fitting that as I was acknowledging Jesus Christ as my Redeemer from sin I should receive this picture of a desolate wilderness covered with a thick blanket of snow.

 In the Old Testament “desolate land” often represents God's judgment for sin, whereas “white snow” represents how our sins look after they are covered by the blood of Jesus Christ.  Since Jesus already took the judgment for our sins upon Himself at the cross, we have been set free from sin by the Blood of the Lamb!  Although our sins were red like crimson, in Christ they are as white as snow (Isaiah 1:18). Yes, His mercy triumphs over judgment (James 2:13).  Such is the healing, reassuring, overwhelming, overcoming and redeeming love of God for His children!

 SCENE 1: The Desolate Wilderness 

 The Wide Road 

This dark, barren and desolate wilderness that lay before me looked like a wide desert valley had become trapped between two mountains of snow.  As already mentioned, the scene was extremely bleak and empty, and the coldness along with the darkness made me shiver. 

Although there was no moon or stars in the night sky, my eyes gradually adjusted to the intense darkness that surrounded me, and I realized that I was facing a wide, snow-covered road with high banks of snow on either side of it.  The snow on the surface of the road appeared untouched, and very deep.  It covered up the tracks of those who may have traveled down this road earlier. Just ahead of me a few leafless, snow-covered trees lined the right bank of the road.  

 As I looked toward the brow of the snow-covered hill, a short distance from where I stood, I noticed that the road ahead made a broad swing to the right.  Then suddenly it sharply curved to the left and disappeared from view behind a high bank of snow as it wound its way down the other side of the hill into the valley below.

Beyond the brow of the hill this same thick blanket of white snow covered the entire valley below.  The broad road I was standing on had become a narrow trail winding its way back and forth through the valley to the distant gray horizon.  I assumed that the descent of the hill on the other side that was beyond my immediate line of vision must be very long and steep, because of the drastic reduction in the size of the road down in the valley.

Seeing there were no visible signs of life anywhere, I wondered what this forsaken wilderness valley that appeared inhabited by neither man nor beast represented.  As the snow covered up the ugly desolation and barrenness of the land it also seemed to provide the "light" that helped me see another snow-covered road that I had failed to notice earlier. 

    

The Narrow Road

As my eyes moved from the distant valley to the immediate foreground of the scene, I saw another snow-covered road to my left.  It was much narrower than the one I was on, and appeared to hug the base of a tall snow-covered mountain a couple of hundred yards away from where I was standing.  I had not noticed it earlier because dead tree branches partially blocked me from getting a clear view of it.  I noticed that this narrow road was at a higher elevation, but paralleled the road I was on for a short distance, before disappearing from sight around the edge of a mountain.

 For a moment my eyes dropped to the ground to the left of me, and I saw what appeared to be an opening in the high bank of snow that lined the wide road.  In order to reach the narrow road I had just discovered I would have to forge a short trail through a section of uncharted, snow-covered land that separated the two roads.  The dead branches that had earlier blocked my view of the narrow road needed to be removed from the ground, so that others who came to this place in the wide road would be able to see clearly that there was another road for them to choose.

    

As I lifted my eyes to take another look at the narrow road, I looked back over my left shoulder to see where the narrow road came from.  It appeared to trail off to the left a short ways, hugging the side of the mountain, before disappearing into the darkness.

As I was pondering what I had just discovered, I heard the Spirit say to me, “Which road will you choose?”  I remembered the words of Jesus, “...broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many find it...but narrow is the road that leads to life and few find it” (Matthew 7:13-14).  My immediate response was “The narrow road, Lord!”

    

SCENE 2: Staking Out the Land

Now I could see for a short distance what lay around the corner of the narrow mountain road I had just chosen.  Like the first scene, black clouds prevented the moon and stars from giving any light.  In spite of the darkness the white snow continued to give off its own light.

To the left of the narrow road, beyond the high banks of snow, a sparse forest of leafless, dead looking, snow-covered trees trailed off into the mist and darkness.  Hugging the road to the right loomed another snow-covered mountain. From where I stood it appeared more like a giant wall of rock covered with snow, almost leaning into the road, as it protectively towered up above me and became one with the dark heavens.

Stretched out in front of me the narrow, snow-covered road appeared deserted, and the fresh layer of snow covered up the tracks of those who had traveled upon it earlier.  However, at the end of the road, a short distance before the road curved right around the side of the mountain, I noticed many black stakes about a foot high, sticking up out of the snow.  They appeared to have been placed closely together, and with such uniformity and precision that it looked like they had been “purposefully” driven into the snow.

Taking one look at this “roadblock” up head would be enough to discourage most travelers from venturing on any further down this road.  Were the stakes designed to discourage people from continuing their journey down this road, or were they there to provide some kind of direction that was not obvious at the present?  From where I stood I could see no relief from the "barrier" up ahead.  The stakes appeared to continue around the corner until the overhanging cliff finally cut them off from view.  It was impossible to tell how far around the corner the stakes continued—whether feet or miles.  It became obvious to me that to continue down this road one would have to “walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7).

SCENE 3: Worshipers in the Night

Before me appeared another scene on the snow-covered mountain road beyond the stakes.  Hugging the road to the left towered another mountain completely covered with snow.  This time I could see its summit.  To the right of the road, on the bank of snow was a large dark object.  It stood out because it was the only object that was not white, except for the night sky.  At first I thought it was a bare black rock, and wondered why it wasn't covered by the carpet of snow like the rest of the bleak landscape.

Suddenly, something stirred in the dark area.  As I looked again at what I had thought was a solid rock, I saw that several rows of people had been sitting, huddled so closely and tightly together on the snowbank that they appeared to look like a solid rock!

The people all appeared to be wearing dark midnight blue hooded parka-like jackets and pants.  I couldn't see their faces, because they were crouched over with their heads bowed.  I felt sure that they were trying to keep warm as they prayed and interceded together.

Having successfully finished their journey through the roadblock of “stakes” in the previous scene, I sensed that they were exhausted from their journey and in need of rest.  I wondered if the original group had been larger at one time, but some had turned back because of the “stakes” blocking the road.  Had some left friends or loved ones behind who had refused to continue with them on this journey?  Were they now praying for them, too?

All of a sudden I noticed that the black night sky above the mountain appeared to glow.  Warm, pink rays of light, appeared to beam down on the people.  After a few minutes people began to lift up their heads.  Slowly, people sitting in the back row began to rise, one after another. They stood tall, with their arms held high above their heads as they faced the pink light.  One by one, people in the second row joined them, as did the people in the front row.  Everyone stood with their hands lifted up above their heads as they looked towards the pink light in the sky above the mountain.  In the midst of this intense night of darkness, everyone had chosen to rise above the bleakness that surrounded them and worship the Lord together. The pink glow of light that shone down upon them was reflected in their faces!

SCENE 4: Footsteps in the Snow

The fourth scene was identical to the third except for the fact that there were no people in it, and there was no pink glow in the night sky.  Instead, a trail of footprints led from the snow-covered bank where the people had been worshiping, and continued on down the short stretch of narrow road towards the next curve that turned left around the side of the mountain.  Apparently everyone had chosen to continue on their journey even though the way ahead was cloaked in even thicker darkness.

As the Spirit took me up close to the footprints, I noticed that the snow on the surface of the road was fresh and crisp and new.  It was not pressed down into a hard pack like I had seen in the earlier scenes.  As I looked down at the footprints that had been made in the fresh snow, I could clearly see that every impression left in the snow by their boots was crisp, clean, and freshly made.  Each footprint had heavy tread with a different, but distinct pattern on the sole.  No two patterns were alike, and no one had walked upon one another’s footprints.  Each had made his own footprints in the snow.  Judging by the depth of each footprint, I guessed that they were walking in snow that was at least a foot deep.

SCENE 5: Climbing the Mountain

Before me stood the vertical edge of a snow-covered mountain, whose base and summit I couldn't see.  Like the previous scenes, the darkness of night stood out in stark contrast to the white snow.

Suddenly, a person appeared in front of me wearing the dark blue, hooded jacket and dark blue pants that I had seen earlier.  The hood of their jacket was drawn tightly around their face.  They were holding on to what appeared to be a black cable that hung down from the top of the mountain. As they carefully placed one hand above the next, they pulled themselves up the vertical face of the cliff in front of me.  I noticed that their feet never slipped for a moment from their footing as they continued to plant them one in front of the other on to the solid rock beneath the covering of snow.  Soon the person climbed up beyond my line of vision.

As I looked down the side of the mountain I saw another person below me climbing up the same way.  They too were holding on to another black cable as they slowly moved up the vertical face of the snow-covered rock.

One by one, and at different places on the face of the mountain, I saw more people pass before me in the same manner.  People had both feet firmly planted on the mountain, and each held on to a different black cable that hung down from above them.  Slowly they would emerge into the picture, and then disappear from sight as they moved on up the face of the rock.  Not once did I see anyone lose their footing, fall, or swing dangerously.  I knew these were the same people I had seen earlier, worshiping.  Had they come to the end of the narrow road and been faced with this steep mountain they each knew they had to climb?

SCENE 6: Forsaken Cabin

Stretched out in front of me lay a very flat and wide field of snow.  At the far end of the field there appeared to be an old abandoned cabin.  Winding through the field of snow was a narrow snow-covered path that finally led up to the door of the dilapidated building.  The path was much narrower than the previous road had been.

The cabin was heavily covered with snow—not just on the roof, but also the walls, windows and door.  Behind, and on either side of it, stood a forest of stark, leafless, trees also covered with snow.  I wondered if this was what the mountain climbers would see when they reached the top of the mountain?

The sky in this scene appeared to be an oppressive murky gray instead of black.  Was this an indication that the “night” would soon be over and that dawn was coming?

As I asked the Lord what this cabin represented, the Spirit took me up to the chimney to look inside.  I was amazed to see that down inside the opening, the chimney was full of fire, yet no smoke came out of the stack, and nothing seemed to be crackling or burning in the cabin.  In fact there was no light of any kind shining through the windows, and the door was closed.

Then the Spirit took me back to the path and had me look at the cabin again at a closer range.  This time I noticed a large sheet of ice on the path a short distance from the cabin door.  The ice looked very slick and thick and completely covered the pathway that led to the cabin.  The ice appeared to be another stumbling block designed to discourage travelers from continuing on the path to the cabin.  The banks of snow on either side of the path appeared to be several feet high—too deep to safely walk in.

Immediately, I understood that the fire in the chimney was what was needed to melt the sheet of ice on the path. But how could the two come together?

SCENE 7: Corridor and Doors

I saw a long, narrow corridor with high gray walls and ceiling.  It was the same shade of gray as the sky in the previous scene.  At the end of the corridor there appeared to be two black doors standing side by side, with a few inches of gray wall separating them.

Slowly, the two doors merged and became one door.  As I approached closer to the door I noticed that a white, mist-like substance that looked like a veil seemed to come from the walls just in front of the door.  Although I could see through the veil, it hung there like a cloud, separating me from the door beyond.  Gradually the corridor faded and I was left in darkness.

SCENE 8: Angelic Hosts

Out of the darkness appeared a small circle of swirling light.  A glorious double rainbow appeared above and beneath it, totally surrounding the circle of light.  The light grew bigger and brighter until it filled my whole line of vision. Fluffy white clouds, etched in gold, began to appear within the circle of light as it drew closer to me.

Breathlessly, I watched as angels began to quickly appear in the white clouds that surrounded the circle of glory.  Thousands upon thousands of angels seemed to fill the whole universe.  Everywhere I looked was filled with their glorious presence.  Each was holding a golden trumpet to his mouth.  Although I couldn't hear them I knew that they were blowing their trumpets.

In the center of the scene was a wide corridor of light, lined with thousands of angels.  It stretched for many, many miles into the distance.  It reminded me of the aisle a bride walks down to meet her husband.

As I stood there looking down the corridor of light, the Spirit enabled me to clearly see miles into the distance—far beyond my natural vision.  I knew that someday Jesus was going to come down this corridor of light to receive His waiting bride—the bride of Christ from all ages.

Beyond the corridor of light tens of thousands of angels kept appearing so that the whole heavens seemed to explode with their shining presence.  But my eyes kept being drawn back to the corridor of light.  As I watched, a white, fluffy cloud appeared in the distant center of that corridor of indescribable light and glory.  Above the cloud I saw the outline of a golden crown.  Was it one of the crowns that will rest upon the head of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ?  I knew that the cloud veiled the light and glory that emanates from the face of our King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

Although I couldn't see my Redeemer's face, I could feel the warmth of His love penetrating my being.  I could sense the longing in His heart to return, and feel the urgency of His desire to reclaim us—His chosen bride.  The trumpet is at His lips!

SCENE 9: Framing the Saints

Having just witnessed the heavens become filled with thousands upon thousands of angels blowing their trumpets, I was taken aback and perplexed by what the Lord showed me next.   In this scene I had no peripheral vision as in the previous scene, and no sense of depth perception, but everything was seen through a square picture frame—like I was looking through a window.

Instead of seeing thousands of saints being resurrected and translated, I saw an elderly couple in the bottom left hand corner of the picture posed with their arms outstretched towards the glowing night sky.  The bottom part of their bodies was cut off at the groin by the picture frame so that I couldn't see their legs or feet.  Although no angels were visible in this scene, I knew they were just outside the frame because the light from above was reflected on this couple’s faces.  Towards the right, a short distance above the heads of the elderly couple, appeared the end of a large golden trumpet, surrounded by a golden haze of pink light.

The smile on the elderly couple’s upturned faces reminded me of some of the traditional paintings we have all seen in Bible story books that depict the Second Coming.  However, their smiles appeared to be staged, like they had practiced it for some time and were now posing for the perfect picture to send to their grandchildren!

The clothing and hairstyle of the elderly couple were plain and reflected a simple lifestyle free from any adornment.  Behind the couple were other people who I couldn't clearly see because they all appeared to be lined up behind one another so uniformly that no one stood out from any of the others.  All I could see was their outstretched arms.  I couldn't tell from my perspective how far the line went back.  I was limited in my understanding of what I saw because I had no bird's-eye view of the situation.

All of a sudden bodies of saints began to rise up into the air in the dark background of the picture and move beyond the confines of the picture frame to where I could no longer see them.  As they were being caught up in the air I noticed that they had no distinct characteristics like the elderly couple or the people standing behind them in the foreground of the picture.  They appeared to be ethereal silhouettes of bodies being caught and moving beyond my frame of reference towards the heavens…

After a few moments of watching people being caught up in the air in the background of the picture I was wondering when the elderly couple and the people standing behind them in the foreground would be translated.  But it never happened!

As I watched the end of the huge trumpet that was a short distance above the heads of the people in the foreground, I wondered if the trumpet was sounding forth a message of celebration or a message of warning.  Suddenly the scene began to fade without the people in the foreground of the picture being translated.  They continued to appear frozen in their happy pose as they looked with outstretched arms towards the sky, still oblivious to and unmoved by the events happening all around them. 

SCENE 10: Ark of the Covenant

Words cannot adequately describe the awe and splendor of this final scene.  Before me was a golden stairway of steps that led straight up to the Ark of the Covenant.  On either side of the Ark angels stood, with their heads bowed, and their wings folded covering their faces, reverently bowing before the Mercy Seat.  They, along with the Ark of the Covenant appeared to be bathed in brilliant golden light.  The Scripture that came to my mind as I saw this is found in Revelation 11:19: "Then God's temple was opened, and within His temple was seen the Ark of the Covenant."

Behind, and on either side of the golden stairway, tens of thousands, probably millions of angels were arranged in beautiful, orderly patterns.  They seemed to be divided into companies, some larger, some smaller.  The angel companies stretched out into the distance on every side of the Ark of the Covenant as far as my eyes could see.  All the angels appeared to be focused on one thing—the Ark!  All I saw was the backs of their heads and their folded wings, as they prostrated themselves in worship before the Ark of the Covenant—before the judgement seat of Jesus Christ.  All of the angels were focused on the Ark, and I knew the Ark represented Jesus Christ! 

Then the final scene of the vision faded…

“For in just a little while, ‘He who is coming will come and will not delay.  But my righteous one will live by faith…’” (Hebrews 10:37-39).

* I'm still waiting on the Lord for His timing to share the interpretation of this vision...