I wonder what your answer would be to this question? Does God still speak to us through dreams? We know that in the Bible God spoke to people through dreams at night while they were sound asleep and also through visions during the daytime. I am not really thinking so much about visions but I would like to explore just a few of the dreams that people in the Bible had and then tie in a few more personal examples. It is important that we understand that God's main way of speaking is through the written Word, the Bible. If anything is contrary to what God has revealed in the Scriptures, then we can be 100% sure that it is not from God. God will never go against anything in the Bible. He doesn't change and neither does His Word.
It seems to me that God will sometimes use dreams to prepare a person for the future or to warn of danger or wrong doing. In the case of Joseph ( the son of Jacob and Rachel ) the dreams were to prepare him for the future. Genises 37 records the dreams in verses 5-10 :
5And Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it his brethren: and they hated him yet the more.
6And he said unto them, Hear, I pray you, this dream which I have dreamed:
7For, behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and, lo, my sheaf arose, and also stood upright; and, behold, your sheaves stood round about, and made obeisance to my sheaf.
8And his brethren said to him, Shalt thou indeed reign over us? or shalt thou indeed have dominion over us? And they hated him yet the more for his dreams, and for his words.
9And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it his brethren, and said, Behold, I have dreamed a dream more; and, behold, the sun and the moon and the eleven stars made obeisance to me.
10And he told it to his father, and to his brethren: and his father rebuked him, and said unto him, What is this dream that thou hast dreamed? Shall I and thy mother and thy brethren indeed come to bow down ourselves to thee to the earth?
Both of these dreams had the same meaning and father Jacob recognized the meaning of the dream when he says in verse 10 : " Shall I and thy mother and thy brethren indeed come to bow down ourselves to thee to the earth?" Through these dreams that God gave to Joseph in the night, He was preparing him as well as Joseph's family for what was to come. As we know from the Bible, Joseph's brothers hated him and sold him as a slave to Egypt. It was in Egypt that these dreams came true. Joseph was a good slave and though he experienced many difficulties there and was even unjustly imprisoned, Joseph became the ruler in Egypt and only Pharoah was above him in command. When famine hit the land and food was scarce, the brothers came to buy food and bowed down to Joseph just as his dream had foretold.
Another dream to consider is that of Abimelech in Genesis 20. It is the story where Abraham and Sarah were on a journey and came to the place Gerar. Abraham had made a deal with Sarah his wife that they would tell people that Sarah was his sister rather than saying his wife since Abraham was afraid men might kill him if they happened to become interested in Sarah. Though this was a very wrong thing to do God spared Abraham in the midst of it all. So Abraham and Sarah came to Abimelech in Gerar and sure enough Abimelech was interested in Sarah as a possible spouse. Genesis 20:2 2And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, She is my sister: and Abimelech king of Gerar sent, and took Sarah., Then notice what happens in verse 3,4. -3But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night, and said to him, Behold, thou art but a dead man, for the woman which thou hast taken; for she is a man's wife. 4But Abimelech had not come near her: and he said, LORD, wilt thou slay also a righteous nation?.. So here in this story God comes to Abimelech to protect him from making a bad mistake worse and Abimelech makes things right and gives Sarah back to Abraham because after all she is Abraham's wife.
We can also think of the story of the birth of Jesus and where Joseph finds out that Mary is with child by the Holy Spirit, Joseph decides to put her away secretly so as to not bring any shame on Mary. But then an angel of the Lord comes to Joseph in a dream in Matthew 1:19-21 -Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her away privily.
20But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.
21And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.
And again in22Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying,
23Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.
24Then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife:
Also in Matthew 2:13 an angel of the Lord appears to Joseph again in a dream with further instructions for Joseph.
Making it Personal
So it is pretty clear that God has spoken many times in the Bible through dreams. I believe God still speaks to us in dreams occasionally. One example of this in my own life would be before my daughter who has down syndrome was born. God prepared me for this in other ways also, but one way was by a dream. I dreamed that I saw a family picture of our family - my husband, myself and our children. There were more children in the picture than the three that we had at the time, one also in Heaven already, but one of our children in the picture looked "different". The dream puzzled me at the time but when our daughter was born it made perfect sense. As you probably know, a child with down syndrome has a distinctive look, very beautiful, a lot like our other children but different. And she is a perfect fit and wonderful part of our family.
Another dream that I had years ago that troubled me for some time was one that I was at heaven's gate but all that I had to bring was straw. I believe that this was an encouragement from the LORD for me that all I do is to be done for Him and such that He can reward. Also we can only enter Heaven by Jesus and not by anything that we bring.
Another would be a reoccuring dream that I had for several years which only stopped after a family issue was taken care of.
My Dad had a dream in which God revealed to him that he was called to be a preacher of the gospel. So when the actual call came, he was prepared and ready to work for the Lord.
As I said at the start of this post, it is important to make sure that we are guided by the already revealed truth in the Bible. God's Word in the Bible is true and it is His Word to us and these other hints that he gives us are just "icing on the cake" so to speak. God Bless.
It seems to me that God will sometimes use dreams to prepare a person for the future or to warn of danger or wrong doing. In the case of Joseph ( the son of Jacob and Rachel ) the dreams were to prepare him for the future. Genises 37 records the dreams in verses 5-10 :
5And Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it his brethren: and they hated him yet the more.
6And he said unto them, Hear, I pray you, this dream which I have dreamed:
7For, behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and, lo, my sheaf arose, and also stood upright; and, behold, your sheaves stood round about, and made obeisance to my sheaf.
8And his brethren said to him, Shalt thou indeed reign over us? or shalt thou indeed have dominion over us? And they hated him yet the more for his dreams, and for his words.
9And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it his brethren, and said, Behold, I have dreamed a dream more; and, behold, the sun and the moon and the eleven stars made obeisance to me.
10And he told it to his father, and to his brethren: and his father rebuked him, and said unto him, What is this dream that thou hast dreamed? Shall I and thy mother and thy brethren indeed come to bow down ourselves to thee to the earth?
Both of these dreams had the same meaning and father Jacob recognized the meaning of the dream when he says in verse 10 : " Shall I and thy mother and thy brethren indeed come to bow down ourselves to thee to the earth?" Through these dreams that God gave to Joseph in the night, He was preparing him as well as Joseph's family for what was to come. As we know from the Bible, Joseph's brothers hated him and sold him as a slave to Egypt. It was in Egypt that these dreams came true. Joseph was a good slave and though he experienced many difficulties there and was even unjustly imprisoned, Joseph became the ruler in Egypt and only Pharoah was above him in command. When famine hit the land and food was scarce, the brothers came to buy food and bowed down to Joseph just as his dream had foretold.
Another dream to consider is that of Abimelech in Genesis 20. It is the story where Abraham and Sarah were on a journey and came to the place Gerar. Abraham had made a deal with Sarah his wife that they would tell people that Sarah was his sister rather than saying his wife since Abraham was afraid men might kill him if they happened to become interested in Sarah. Though this was a very wrong thing to do God spared Abraham in the midst of it all. So Abraham and Sarah came to Abimelech in Gerar and sure enough Abimelech was interested in Sarah as a possible spouse. Genesis 20:2 2And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, She is my sister: and Abimelech king of Gerar sent, and took Sarah., Then notice what happens in verse 3,4. -3But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night, and said to him, Behold, thou art but a dead man, for the woman which thou hast taken; for she is a man's wife. 4But Abimelech had not come near her: and he said, LORD, wilt thou slay also a righteous nation?.. So here in this story God comes to Abimelech to protect him from making a bad mistake worse and Abimelech makes things right and gives Sarah back to Abraham because after all she is Abraham's wife.
We can also think of the story of the birth of Jesus and where Joseph finds out that Mary is with child by the Holy Spirit, Joseph decides to put her away secretly so as to not bring any shame on Mary. But then an angel of the Lord comes to Joseph in a dream in Matthew 1:19-21 -Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her away privily.
20But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.
21And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.
And again in22Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying,
23Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.
24Then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife:
Also in Matthew 2:13 an angel of the Lord appears to Joseph again in a dream with further instructions for Joseph.
Making it Personal
So it is pretty clear that God has spoken many times in the Bible through dreams. I believe God still speaks to us in dreams occasionally. One example of this in my own life would be before my daughter who has down syndrome was born. God prepared me for this in other ways also, but one way was by a dream. I dreamed that I saw a family picture of our family - my husband, myself and our children. There were more children in the picture than the three that we had at the time, one also in Heaven already, but one of our children in the picture looked "different". The dream puzzled me at the time but when our daughter was born it made perfect sense. As you probably know, a child with down syndrome has a distinctive look, very beautiful, a lot like our other children but different. And she is a perfect fit and wonderful part of our family.
Another dream that I had years ago that troubled me for some time was one that I was at heaven's gate but all that I had to bring was straw. I believe that this was an encouragement from the LORD for me that all I do is to be done for Him and such that He can reward. Also we can only enter Heaven by Jesus and not by anything that we bring.
Another would be a reoccuring dream that I had for several years which only stopped after a family issue was taken care of.
My Dad had a dream in which God revealed to him that he was called to be a preacher of the gospel. So when the actual call came, he was prepared and ready to work for the Lord.
As I said at the start of this post, it is important to make sure that we are guided by the already revealed truth in the Bible. God's Word in the Bible is true and it is His Word to us and these other hints that he gives us are just "icing on the cake" so to speak. God Bless.
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