The Sugar-ice Duck Vision
In September 1974 the Lord gave me (Arthur) one of the strangest visions I have ever received, and on reflection I still believe it to be one of the most important, revealing the subtlety of the enemy’s intrusion into the end-time works of God. The vision became the subject of our very first edition of The Prophetic Telegraph, which we published on 27th June 1986 and was repeated for review in September 1994 as P.T. 56. In view of the way things have gone in the western world in the years since then, we now believe that it is timely to review this vision in the light of developments. The Lord said that in the last days He would send “strong delusion” to those “who received not the love of the truth.” This was the basis of the vision, which may now be set down once again for analysis.
The Crown Agents in London had appointed me to teach in the King George V School, Kowloon, Hong Kong as from the beginning of the autumn term 1974. We flew out there and landed on September 3rd, and were given a suite of rooms on the 8th floor of the Hong Kong Hotel. It was a temporary arrangement until suitable accommodation could be found. Two nights later, after the children were asleep, and my wife had gone to bed, I sat looking at the magnificent view across the harbour. It was a fairyland of coloured lights. The colony is a cameo of all that relates to luxury. The love of money is the paramount factor that keeps everyone going. I was told there were more millionaires per square mile in Hong Kong than anywhere else in the world, and after being there for some time, I could well believe it. Nothing stops in Hong Kong, night or day, unless there is a typhoon. It is a hive of constant activity that can easily get into one’s soul. It is difficult to stand against it when living in such an atmosphere. Looking back I now believe that what happened next was related to the Hong Kong way of life, as it was going to influence the newly forming charismatic churches in the west. Except that the luxury relates mainly to the spiritual realm rather than the material realm.
As I sat looking at this amazing scene I began to see something else, and because of its strangeness my mind was alerted immediately to the fact that God was conveying truth in visionary form. I saw a duck, and I knew that it had been made of icing sugar because a hand was smoothing down the surface with a knife. When all was complete, the strange thing padded along on its webbed feet as though alive, and settled down on a flat surface somewhere. But if this was strange, the next part of the vision took me even more by surprise, because I saw dozens of people arriving at the duck, and it was only then that I realised how large it was.
It must have been all of forty feet tall! The people were excited about the coming of the duck, and some of those who were braver than the rest even went up to it and touched it. One of them licked his fingers and the taste was sweet. Breaking a fragment from the surface he ate it, and jumped for joy. Others gained confidence and followed his example until they were all delirious with excitement. I saw them singing, dancing, throwing up their hands in the air, and embracing each other. The festive atmosphere was its own advertisement. People arrived in droves, pushing and shoving, and climbing over the duck with the aid of ladders in an effort to obtain a handful of icing sugar and join in the fun.
This continued for some time until one man gave a very loud shout, which brought everything to a halt. They saw him pointing to a hole that had appeared in the icing sugar. It was therefore not solid as they had originally thought. No one had imagined the sugar icing might give out sooner or later. After this, caution was exercised in the eating. Everyone agreed to ration what was left. But they found to their joy that even the smallest taste produced the same effects as a handful, and they wished they had learned this lesson earlier. In the process of time many more holes appeared. Some tried looking inside the duck, but all was pitch dark. Nothing could be seen. Gradually the duck became wafer thin. All of a sudden the crash came as the remainder of the duck disintegrated in a cloud of very fine dust.
The crowd became silent, waiting and watching. It took a while for the dust to settle, and then I had a shock. Inside the duck there was a terrible black beast about forty feet long, in shape like a scorpion with bulbous green eyes. It also had wings similar to those of a dragonfly. I fully expected the crowd to disperse at great speed, but instead they became delirious with excitement once again, and accepted the beast as their accredited leader. If anything, the excitement became greater than before.
At this point the vision changed, and I saw the hand once again. It was outstretched with some white pills on the palm. A small number of people were arriving to receive one, which they ate. The result showed on their faces as an inner sense of peace and tranquillity. And then the two visions merged. Once again I saw people taking the icing sugar from the duck and jumping about in excitement. The group from the second vision was approaching, and mingling with the crowd, warning them, “Don’t eat it! It’s dangerous!” But there was very little response. Some shouted at them, “Go away, you prophets of doom! Don’t tell us that YOU have the Spirit of the Lord. Where is your joy?” Disheartened they eventually wandered away, feeling a dull ache in the pits of their stomachs.
Later on, when I had made a record of the vision, the Lord spoke to me, and I wrote down the message, as follows:-
“The hand that formed the bitter pill fashioned also the duck.
This is my work, and by it my name will be magnified.
Twenty centuries of progress has not changed the nature of man,
and neither has it changed mine, says the Lord.
My Son is the Way, the Truth and the Life.
All those who reject the bitter pill of the cross will find themselves prey to the lie.
I will send them strong delusion,
and they will believe it and rejoice in it
because their hearts are not set upon the Way.
They will accept falsehood in a season of careless security,
indulging in spiritual flirtation with powers of darkness
dressed up in acceptable guise.
They longed for sweet things and I gave them sugar,
but it was not in tune with my heart, says the Lord.
“And each bite of the duck they take,
so grows the beast within.
And each bite of the duck they take,
so blind they become to the truth.
And then, when antifaith has done its final work,
the beast is revealed to the world,
enthroned within the temple of God, blasphemously parading divine nature.
“Mark well my words, says the Lord,
there is but one great sign for this world,
one marvel, one miracle of challenge that I will accept,
and it is the sign of the prophet Jonah.
And those who take the bitter pill shall find loneliness, derision and sorrow.
And they shall walk the way of their Master,
learning of His sorrows,
sharing His suffering,
conforming to His death.
But I shall raise them to life,
life on a higher plane,
and they shall take my message to the nations.
This is my sign, and this shall be their reward.
All other ways, however right they may appear to man,
shall be disallowed in my sight, says the Lord.
And those who eat the duck shall refuse this glory when it is revealed
for it shall be folly to them.
Choose therefore whilst it is still possible,
choose the salt and reject the sugar, says the Lord,
for the time is now short.”
