The Woman from Valdres
Watch recording from meeting June 13, 2010 (Swedish language)
A Vision of the Future
From 1957-63 I studied at the University of Oxford. After returning home I received several invitations from the Church of Norway. In 1968 my wife (Aase) and I were at a series of meetings in Valdres. After the service one Sunday in Etnedal Church, an elderly woman came to me. She looked 90 years old, and had come traveling in a taxi to the meeting. I don't know where she came from, but she said she was from Valdres. She wanted to talk about a vision she had had about the future.
The old woman told me and I wrote down the vision. When I got home and read through what she had said, I was shocked. Everything was so incredible and unreal that I initially decided not to publish it, which she wanted so badly. I put it in a drawer and forgot about the incident. But eight years ago, in 1993, I was going through papers and clippings that I had gradually collected. Then an old sheet fell out of the drawer. It was the vision from the woman in Valdres.
Now I was shocked again, but in a different way. Much of what she had told had, strangely enough, come true. I decided to read it out in some meetings. It was in connection with topics about the prophetic word and the return of Jesus. The vision has attracted attention. It has been reproduced in newspapers, magazines, journals and tracts. Sometimes not entirely correctly. Here it is reproduced as it was recorded. And it is divided into four paragraphs or sections.
Nevertheless, it is with a certain reservation that I publish the vision. This is especially true in a book like this. But after several inquiries, I have decided to comply with the request. Nevertheless, we must be aware that visions of this kind cannot be compared with predictions and revelations, which are mentioned in the Holy Scriptures (Deut. 18:22). The biblical prophecies are unshakable: “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away” (Matt. 24:35).
Regarding prophetic messages outside the Scriptures, Paul says: “Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others judge” (1 Cor. 14:29). Predictions of the times must therefore be examined and tested. At the same time, Paul has elsewhere asked us not to despise prophetic speech (1 Thess. 5:20). Otherwise, we should note an essential truth: We humans have great curiosity when it comes to looking into the future. We are often more interested in knowing what will happen hereafter than in settling our case with God.
The vision
The old woman said: — It was as if a map was rolled up in front of me. I saw it with my natural eyes. On the map were all the continents of the world drawn. I noted Europe, Scandinavia and Norway. What I saw were events that concerned the time before Jesus comes again, and the third world war breaks out.
I
Before Jesus comes again and the third world war breaks out, there will be a détente. There will be a long period of peace between the great powers. People will make long-term plans. In our country there will be disarmament, and we will again be unprepared like on April 9, 1940. The third world war will begin in a way that no one expected, and from a completely unexpected source.
II
There will be an unprecedented apostasy from true and genuine Christianity. There will be great lukewarmness among the believers. They will no longer be open and receptive to searching messages. People will not be so eager to hear about sin and grace, law and gospel, repentance and recovery. A new kind of preaching takes over the pulpits. It is seeking happiness, progress and material prosperity. A kind of happiness preaching takes hold. The churches begin to stand empty. The same happens with the houses of prayer and the revival halls. The believers do not want to follow Jesus on the narrow way of the crossroads. Entertainment, art and cultural activities take over more and more the place of revival, distress, repentance and penance meetings.
III
There will be a moral dissolution that we have not experienced before. People live as married without being married (At that time we did not have the concept of cohabitation. So the woman expressed it in her way). There will be great impurity before marriage. And there will be a lot of infidelity in marriage. Yes, even in Christian marriages infidelity makes itself felt, and they are dissolved. Perverse sins also begin to take hold. And they are even accepted in Christian circles.
Television will play a big role. There will be many television stations (Back then we didn't have the word channels, so the old woman used the word stations, after what was used for radio). Television will be full of violence. Violence will become entertainment for people at this time. And the violence that people watch on television will eventually characterize cities and villages. Intimate scenes of cohabitation will also be shown. The most intimate relationships that belong to marriage will be openly shown on television (When it was said, I said that this was not allowed in public broadcasts. At that time we had a cautionary poster that did not allow obscene scenes. Then she said in a raised voice: "They won't care about that when the time comes.")
IV
People from poor countries are flocking to the rich countries. They are coming to Europe, to Scandinavia, and also to Norway. There will be many of them. And people are starting to dislike them, and they are getting hard on them (When she said this she started to cry). They are treated more and more like the Jews before the war. Then the measure of our sins is full. The war breaks out. At first as a small conflict, an insignificant conflict. But it does not end. It increases and spreads. Finally it develops into a great war. Towards the end of the great war, terrible weapons are used, including nuclear weapons. Air, soil and water are poisoned and destroyed. People from the industrialized countries, America, Europe, Australia, Japan and other similar areas, have to flee. They cannot live there any longer. They try to get to the poorest countries that have avoided the worst. But they will not be so willing to receive us, just as we were not so willing to receive them.
Postscript
The fear of God is a protection of the land. A people who fear the Lord are the object of blessing and protection (Deut. 28:1-14). The prerequisite is that there are preachers who unadulteratedly stand for the word of God, and preach what God puts on their hearts. Here, not least, an older generation has tasks in the times. In our movement, we are grateful to have brothers like Morgan and Konrad Kornmo, Hans Svartdahl, Tom Erlandsen, Ole B. Jarlvang and David Østby, who constantly remind our congregations to adhere to the word of God. In a quote from the Old Testament it says: “And Israel served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who had known all the works that the Lord had done for Israel” (Joshua 24:31).
God has been good to Scandinavia, and not least to Norway. We have a higher standard of living than most. The word of the Gospel is constantly preached for salvation and renewal. And it is presented in different ways to the Norwegian people. We have two Christian newspapers that bring the Christian message to the nation every day, Vårt Land in Oslo and Dagen in Bergen. In addition, we have a weekly newspaper called Norge Idag, which conveys the wake-up call of the revival to the people. Let us take care of our privileges, and let us pray for the future. Prayer can change the world. Let us not forget what happened to the city of Nineveh (Jonah 3:10).
Source: From Reykjavik to Jerusalem by Emanuel Minos, pages 150 - 155