Throughout the Bible, we read many examples in which God spoke to mankind through dreams. Can we expect that God will also speak to us in dreams and visions at some point? While it is possible, we must guard our minds and not assume our dreams are a message from God.
There is ample evidence of God using dreams to talk to His servants. These examples, as the Bible plainly describes, were for very specific reasons. We also see a few examples of God speaking to those who weren’t His followers as a means to indirectly interact with His servants for an explicit purpose. When Abraham journeyed into Gerar and met king Abimelech, Abraham lied and stated Sarah was his sister. Abimelech brought her to his house, but before he unknowingly sinned by “touching” her, God came to Abimelech, “…in a dream by night, and said to him, ‘Indeed you are a dead man because of the woman whom you have taken, for she is a man’s wife’ ” (Genesis 20:3). Because of Abraham’s deceit, God stepped in to save a whole household from death.
We also see another example of God warning carnal men not just for a follower, but for His very Son. Herod was intent on killing the young Christ and instructed the wise men to return to him with news. After finding the Christ child, God came to the wise men, “Then, being divinely warned in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed for their own country another way” (Matthew 2:12; compare also Matthew 27:19 for another example).
When Gideon went to war with the Midianites, it was with a very small army of three hundred. God spoke to both Gideon and his men for the purpose of emboldening them. God said to Gideon, “Arise, go down against the camp, for I have delivered it into your hand. But if you are afraid to go down, go down to the camp with Purah your servant, and you shall hear what they say; and afterward your hands shall be strengthened to go down against the camp” (Judges 7:9-11). Shortly thereafter, Gideon followed God’s command and went down to the camp; “And when Gideon had come, there was a man telling a dream to his companion… And so it was, when Gideon heard the telling of the dream and its interpretation… He returned to the camp of Israel, and said, ‘Arise, for the LORD has delivered the camp of Midian into your hand’ ” (Judges 7:13,15).
We can see from these few examples that God was speaking through dreams to further His Will. It is also important to understand that while dreams or visions from God were given to many individuals, the ability to interpret is from Godly inspiration. When Joseph heard the butler and baker discussing their dreams, he correctly understood where understanding came from: “So Joseph said to them, ‘Do not interpretations belong to God?’ ” (Genesis 40:8). Daniel was able to explain Nebuchadnezzar’s dream because, “As for these four young men, God gave them knowledge and skill in all literature and wisdom; and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams” (Daniel 1:17).
There are many more examples of God interacting with mankind through dreams and visions. We must be careful not to assume that is the method He chooses to communicate with us today. We read in Hebrews the way in which we are to receive instruction: “God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son” (Hebrews 1:1-2). We have the inspired words of the Bible to guide us through every part of our Christian lives. It should be in that resource that we diligently search for answers.
Generally, God does not use dreams today to communicate with us. The Bible describes dreams in many places as futile and meaningless. Psalm 73:20 says: “As a dream when one awakes, so LORD, when You awake, You shall despise their image.” Ecclesiastes 5:3, 7 adds: “For a dream comes through much activity, And a fool’s voice is known by his many words… For in the multitude of dreams and many words there is also vanity. But fear God.” Finally, Isaiah 29:7-8 describes the futility of dreams in these words: “The multitude of all the nations who fight against Ariel (Jerusalem), Even all who fight against her and her fortress, And distress her, Shall be as a dream of a night vision. It shall even be as when a hungry man dreams, And look—he eats; But he awakes, and his soul is still empty; Or as when a thirsty man dreams, And look—he drinks; But he awakes, and indeed he is faint, And his soul still craves; So the multitude of all the nations shall be, who fight against Mount Zion.”
When God spoke through the prophets, He laid out a clear explanation for how His people should seek after Him. “If there arises among you a prophet or a dreamer of dreams, and he gives you a sign or a wonder, and the sign or the wonder comes to pass, of which he spoke to you, saying, ‘Let us go after other gods’—which you have not known—‘and let us serve them,’ you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams, for the LORD your God is testing you to know whether you love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul. You shall walk after the LORD your God and fear Him, and keep His commandments and obey His voice; you shall serve Him and hold fast to Him” (Deuteronomy 13:1-5). Our hearts will be tested on God’s Commandments and His Voice—written down in His inspired words.
Believing in and relying on dreams could be deceitful and dangerous. Jeremiah 23:25-27 warns us: “I have heard what the prophets have said who prophesy lies in My name, saying, ‘I have dreamed, I have dreamed!’ How long will this be in the heart of the prophets who prophesy lies? Indeed they are prophets of the deceit of their own heart, who try to make My people forget My name by their dreams which everyone tells his neighbor, as their fathers forgot My name for Baal.” Compare also Jeremiah 29:8 and Zechariah 10:2.
Christ warned of a negative disposition we could get into, resulting in our inability to understand the Plan of God. This wasn’t due to a lack of dreams or visions, but a failure to read the Scriptures. “Hypocrites! You know how to discern the face of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times. A wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign shall be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah” (Matthew 16:3-4).
In the past, dreams were used mightily, as they will be in the end time, to further God’s Purpose (Acts 2:17; Joel 2:18). But we must first fulfill His Will by seeking what is laid before us in the Holy Scripture. It is after all “…given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16-17).
Lead Writer: Robb Harris
