BIBLICAL BRIEFS 42
Job 33: 14-18 spells out the importance of dreams as a means of communication through which God talks to people. From Num. 12: 6, Hos. 12:10 and Act. 2:16 it seems evident that God is talking to us in this manner. New Testament writers linked their teaching and revelation to dreams and visions, from start to finish; Paul in 2 Cor. 12:1 consequently comes to the defence thereof, saying, that he “will come to visions and revelations of the Lord”. It is important to differentiate between spiritual dreams and natural dreams. The principle laid down in Ecc. 5: 3 states that heavy pressure brings forth dreams, in other words, if you experience any amount of stress, chances are big that you will dream about it – it’s a natural process to assimilate the tumult in your innermost being (see Isa. 29: 8). However, you have to enter God’s rest (Heb. 4:10) in order for you to be able to interpret your dreams spiritually. In other words, if you are, for example, upset due to financial pressure, you should not trust your natural dreams in this regard. If you do experience financial stress, but peacefully wait on God for a strategy, He will most probably talk to you through a spiritual dream. Spiritual dreams are a means through which God speaks to you and can be based on a number of possible reasons. It may concern immediate matters and accompanying commissions (Acts 16: 9-10); it could be directive around personal and practical matters (Gen. 31); it could be prophetic with regard to future events and dispensations (Gen. 37: 9-11); it could be to communicate spiritual truths and laws (Acts 10: 10-16); it could be about a divine personal calling (1 Kin. 3: 5; Gen. 41: 1-8); it could serve as a warning (Gen. 20: 3-7; Matt. 2:12; 27:19); it could be strategically inclined (Jud. 7:13; Matt. 1 & 2); it could be about the fate of nations (Gen. 15; Dan. 4), and so forth. Because dreams are easily robbed (Job 20: 8), it is of utmost importance that we develop the right mind-set in this regard – as a spiritual person, you should consider your dreams as a serious matter (1 Cor. 2: 14-15). Ask God explicitly to speak to you in this manner. Keep a journal next to your bed in which you can immediately write down the dream the moment you wake up. Gód gives the interpretation of dreams and visions. Similar to Daniel (2: 17-18), we have to approach God to decipher the mystery of dreams. Do as Gideon did, who, tested the interpretation with God the moment after he had listened to the explanation of a dream (Act. 7). The first principle to follow with the interpretation of a spiritual dream is contained in Prov. 28: 5: “They that seek the LORD understand all things.” Dreams are symbolic, and most of the time (95%) of a personal nature. Whenever you dream about other people it does not necessarily mean that it should by implication refer to them personally or that God wants to tell them something through your dream (deception occurs to a large extent in this manner) – people featuring in your dream often represent something very specific concerning YOURSELF. Thus, ask yourself: what does this person represent in my life? In the course of time, you will develop a personal dream symbolism. I have a serious problem with any dream symbolism dictionary that attaches fixed values to certain items, colours, and so forth. The Bible often provides symbolic meanings, but for you, it may have a totally different meaning. Ask God for the interpretation – after all, it is Him trying to communicate with you!
Dr. Tom Gouws
