Dreams

The Importance of Dreams

Steve Nixon

The prophet Joel prophesied of a time when the Holy Ghost would be made available to all flesh, and not just to a select few; such as the prophets of old, certain kings and a few other specially anointed people. Joel 2:28 says;

“And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions.”

This prophecy began to be fulfilled as the first group of the New Testament church were assembled together on the day of Pentecost as recorded in Acts 2:2-4;

“And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.”

When onlookers saw what was happening but did not understand, they asked Peter what was going on, he explained to them;

“…this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy.” (Acts 2:16-18).

I’ve been wondering lately about the lack of people speaking out concerning their dreams and visions. I think people have dreams and visions whether they are Christian or not,
but I am especially concerned with the dreams and visions of Christians. Why aren’t people more open about what they dream, or their visions? There is certainly a great lack of teaching by the world’s denominations of Christianity, in every aspect of the Christian faith and experience; and this holds true in the area of dreams and visions as well. I wholeheartedly think that if the Lord were to give a grade the result of the teachings of the majority of churches today that He would grade them an ‘absolute failure’. When people upon having one of those dreams, “that stand out in their minds,” why aren’t they seeking an interpretation? Are we afraid of being laughed at? And worse than that, are we afraid of being laughed at ‘by other Christians?’ If this is so, what does that say about not only the character of today’s Christians but their own level of spirituality? Are we silenced by a fear of skeptics? Or do we not perceive dreams as being spiritual or given by God? Sure, the human mind ‘wanders’ at night and we have what seem to be nonsense dreams that don’t mean anything (and usually vaporize into nothing as soon as we wake up; but there are other dreams we have that we wake up with. Dreams that we are sure ‘mean something’ but we can’t figure out. Some dreams are on our minds all day before they disappear, some for weeks and sometimes years. These are the dreams that I’m wondering about. Why are we not more open about discussing these dreams. If we pray for an interpretation and do not receive one, then why aren’t we feeling the freedom to seek an interpretation from other Christians? If indeed these dreams are given by God, then how dare we ignore them! They are for a reason; and those reasons are always in one way or another to our eventual benefit. These gifts of God are like many other things, if we ignore them, then they become pointless and we either receive them less often, or stop receiving them at all. So this brief study looks at how God spoke to His people in both the Old and New Testaments and what role dreams and visions played in guiding, directing and speaking to His people.

Abraham

When Abram (later named Abraham) first received notice that God was calling him out of his own country and into a strange land and would make him a father of nations; it was in a vision. Abram believed God in this vision, and became known as the ‘father of faith.’
(Genesis chapter 15).

Abimelech

In Genesis 20:1-18; Abimelech had previously, through no fault of his own, received Sarah (Abraham’s wife) as his wife, thinking she was Abraham’s sister. Innocent of knowing she was Abraham’s wife or not (ignorance of the law is no excuse), it would be a sin for Abimelech to have sex with Sarah. So God warned Abimelech not to touch Sarah. How was that warning given? In a dream. Because Abimelech heeded his dream, rather than ignoring or seeing little importance in it, Sarah was then returned to Abraham. What would have happened if Abimelech, like so many of us today, would have ignored his dream? Then Sarah would not have had Issac by Abraham. Isaac would not have had Jacob who through him came the nation of Israelites. Jesus would not have been born and all those who receive salvation by Him would be damned.

Jacob

In Genesis chapter 28:12-16, began the story of how Jacob was to be blessed by the Lord to become a great nation; which later became Israel and ultimately all of those both Jew and Gentile who would be considered in the family of God. And how did Jacob receive this vision and understanding, creating the faith in Jacob to spend his life in the direction to which God had appointed him? In a dream. Jacob understood the significance and
spiritual direction of a dream.

Joseph
In Genesis chapter 37, Joseph, the son of Jacob, had a dream. He dreamed that he would rise above his brothers and they would obey him. His brothers already did not like Joseph because he was the youngest of the brothers, but after Joseph related his dream his brothers hated him. This dream might have been ‘the final straw’ that caused his brothers to sell joseph as a slave to an Egyptian. We understand though, in later chapters in Genesis, that once again it was God behind this dream. What I marvel at about this dream is that Joseph’s dream, like many dreams, was metaphorical in nature… yet his brothers and father instantly understood what the dream meant. People of old had a far better understanding of the spiritual nature of dreams than people of today have. Isn’t it about time we start paying more attention to our dreams as well? Later in Joseph’s life, (Genesis chapter 40), Joseph found himself in prison and two men, a butler of Pharaoh and a baker, each had a dream. Not an ordinary dream but they must have recognized their dreams as having meaning that neither of them could figure out and it made them ‘sad’ because they didn’t understand what the dreams meant. When Joseph asked why the men were so sad they told him it was because they did not understand their dreams. At that time Joseph made a profound statement, that ‘interpretations belong to God’.

(The New Testament declares the fulfillment of “your young men shall dream dreams, and your old men shall have visions”. There is a difference of ‘dreams’ and ‘visions’.
Dreams are usually metaphoric and required interpretation, visions are not. Both dreams and visions usually give direction, warn or assure. Dreams occur during sleep whereas visions can occur either in sleep or ‘daydreaming’ (in a trance). Visions generally are not metaphoric but explain plainly). Getting back to the story; Joseph explained the two men’s dreams to them, both dreams being prophetic in nature, and those dreams came to pass exactly as Joseph had interpreted. Later, in Genesis chapter 41, the Pharaoh himself had a very disturbing dream and was informed that there was a man in prison who could interpret dreams (Joseph’s God being with him) and Pharaoh summoned him to interpret his dream. Pharaoh related his dream (in which everything was metaphoric) to Joseph and Joseph gave the interpretation; warning Pharaoh of a coming serious drought that would last seven years and also of how to spare Egypt during the disaster to come. Pharaoh listened, and did everything Joseph said to do, resulting in all of Egypt being spared throughout the drought, and all of Israel as well. How much credence was given to dreams in centuries gone by? Enough to change the course of nations! In these last days there is supposed to be an abundance of ‘dreams and visions’. Are we so dull of understanding of these spiritual blessings?

Gideon

In the book of Judges, chapter 7, Gideon was going to war against the Midianites and Amalekites, but God wanted Gideon to reduce the number of his forces from 30,000 to a mere 300! Still, the Midianite and Amalekite armies were huge and Gideon was now far outnumbered. How was Gideon reassured to enter this conflict against overwhelming forces? Because of a man’s dream, and Gideon’s understanding of that dream!

King Saul

In 1 Samuel, chapter 28, King Saul, who at one time was filled with the Holy Spirit, received direction from God both through prophets and through his own dreams. By those prophets and dreams, King Saul led the nation of Israel. But there came a time when, through Saul’s disobedience, that God’s Spirit departed from Saul, and Saul no longer received God’s direction himself, and sought Samuel for understanding and direction.

Solomon

In 1 Kings, chapter 3:1-15, Solomon was King of Israel, and he besought the Lord to grant him understanding by which to lead God’s people. God granted Solomon his request and Solomon to this day is known worldwide for his wisdom! And how did Solomon ask this of the Lord, and in what way did God grant his request? The whole
event took place…yes, in a dream.

Daniel
One of the most dramatic dreams and interpretation of dreams to be spoken of in scripture is in the book of Daniel, chapters 1 through 5. If you are reading this article to learn about the importance of dreams and interpretation of dreams that have nation changing effects; then these chapters are an absolute must read. In Daniel, chapter 7,
Daniel has another most amazing and dramatic dream which is the forerunner of the vision of John known as the Book of Revelation; Daniel chapter 7 reveals Daniel’s prophetic dream of earth’s destruction and the kingdom of God.

Joseph and Mary

The virgin Mary had been promised to Joseph. But before the marriage she was found to be pregnant. At that time in history (and in some cultures still true today) a woman found pregnant could be killed. Mary could have been stoned to death, and her husband to be Joseph was fearful of proceeding with the marriage. But in the book of Matthew, chapter 1 verse 20, an angel came to Joseph and told him not to be afraid to take Mary as his wife; and Joseph obeyed and the marriage took place. Had this not happened, what would become of Mary…of Jesus? And how did this angel appear to Joseph? Yes again…in a dream! People not only believed in their dreams, they received heavenly instruction by them.

Wise Men from the East

The wise men of the east were instructed of King Herod to inform him when they had found the infant that was to be King of the Jews. But after the wise men had found Jesus, they were warned not to return to Herod, but return home a different way. How were they warned? In a dream, again. And they listened and followed that warning that came in that dream. What would happen if they didn’t? Herod wanted to know where the baby was so he could kill him. (Mt 2:7-12).

Joseph and Mary

In Matthew 2:13-18, Joseph and Mary were to return to where they had lived before going to Bethlehem. But God warned Joseph not to return, but to flee into Egypt, for King Herod was in a rage trying to find Jesus. Again, the warning came in a dream.

In Matthew 2:19-20, an angel came to Joseph and informed him that King Herod had died, and to return to Nazareth in Israel. This message also… came in a dream. Are we seeing a pattern here… in all these dreams?

Apostle Peter and the Gentiles

At first, New Testament salvation was of the house of Israel, and only for the Jews, but several years after the Day of Pentecost when the Holy Ghost was poured out and made available to all believers, the Apostle Peter fell into a trance and had a vision. In this vision, the Lord was giving approval for Gentiles to be saved. Just prior to Peter’s vision, in a different town, an angel came to a Gentile household to a man named Cornelius, informing him to send for the Apostle Peter. When Peter came to the house of Cornelius, the Spirit of God began filling all in the house of Cornelius and Peter then understood the vision he had. That Gentiles also could be saved and have eternal life through the baptism of the Holy Spirit. (Acts chapters 9, 10 and 11).

John’s Book of Revelation

Even the Book of Revelation, given the Apostle John and now having been read by millions, was given to John in a vision (Revelation 9:17).

There are many other examples as well, of major importance recorded in scripture that came through dreams and visions. Look up ‘dream’ and ‘vision’ in a good concordance to find them. It’s an interesting study. But what am I saying about dreams and visions in today’s world? Share all your dreams? Not hardly. But don’t ignore them, either.
Most dreams are somehow therapeutic to the mind; perhaps it’s way of dealing with the stresses and pressures of day to day life. I’m sure some dreams are simply the mind’s fanciful nonsense. But like I said earlier, some dreams ‘stay with us’ for a while, causing us to wonder what it meant. Some dreams give us a feeling like it’s a warning, but we somehow can’t figure out what it means. THESE are the dreams I’m referring to. We should not ignore them. We should seek to understand them. We should first go to God in prayer and seek understanding. If no understanding is given then it very well could be that ‘someone else’ has the interpretation or ‘will have’ as soon as they hear the dream.
This has certainly been the case many time in the Old Testament. And how will we ever find that person unless we at least feel a liberty to speak of our dreams to those we believe are also Christians.

And what about sharing visions? Where would we be if the Apostle Peter, upon receiving his vision, simply stayed on his rooftop? Where would the Gentiles be now? And Cornelius. What would have happened if he ‘dismissed’ his vision and for whatever reason did not send for the Apostle Peter. What about Daniel, and the vision of the Apostle John and the Book of Revelation? Were it not for their realization of the importance of their visions, and their obedience, the Judean-Christian faiths would not be fore-warned of what is to come. The men of both the Old and New Testaments knew the spiritual nature and seriousness of dreams and visions; so should we. Some dreams and visions are given by God. They are given to warn, instruct or assurance, both for the present day as well as future events and are often prophetic in nature. The words of the Apostle Peter hold just as true today, as they did when he spoke them in Acts 2: 16-18…

“And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy.”