On Dreaming

Dreaming. It is a common function of our minds. We do it without thinking. It is not done voluntarily, perhaps not even involuntarily. The term is laced throughout much of the scripture. Dreaming must a part of God’s plan and purpose, else it would not have existed.

For a brief definition: Onar is a vision in sleep, in distinction from a waking vision. Enupnion is, lit., what appears in sleep, an ordinary dream. Enupniazo, shall be given up to dreams; translated, shall dream dreams; metaphorically in Jude 8, of being given over to sensuous “dreamings”; “dreamers” and so defiling the flesh. Vine’s Expository Dictionary.

Dreaming. It may be called unconscious; subconscious: Mr. Webster calls it “a succession of images, thoughts, or emotions passing through the mind during sleep.”

The first mention of dreams in the Old Testament was when Abraham and Sarah went to Gerar. Abimeleck the king took Sarah after they had vowed before the king to be brother and sister. God said to Abimeleck, You’re a dead man! the woman which you have taken is a man’s wife. . .“I also withheld thee from sinning against me: therefore suffered I thee not to touch her” Gen. 20:3,6. The first mention of dreams in the New Testament. The angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream: “fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife. . .” Matt. 1:20.

The last mention of dreams in the Old Testament is found in Joel 2:28; also repeated in Acts 2:17: “And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh. . .old men shall dream dreams.” The last mention of dreams is found in Jude 8; (and these dreams are not of the Lord!). “Like wise these filthy dreamers defile the flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities.” Needless to say, these ‘dreamers’ run rampant in the world today.

Other well known Old Testament dreams.

Familiar, the scriptures concerning Jacob and his “ladder.” “And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it. And behold, the Lord stood above it and said, I AM the Lord God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to the will I give it, and to thy seed;” Gen. 28:12-13. And seven promises followed. Gen. 28:13-15.

In Genesis chapter 37, Joseph dreamed a dream which showed that he should reign over his brethren, for which they hated him and sold him into slavery.

In Genesis chapter 40, we find Joseph in prison with the chief of the butlers, and the chief of the bakers; each having a dream in the night. Joseph said, “Do not interpretations belong to God?” and he interpreted their dreams for them.

In chapter 41, Pharaoh dreamed of the famine that should come upon Egypt: seven years of plenty, seven years of famine. He double-dreamed it. “because the thing is established by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass” Gen. 41:32b.

In I Samuel chapter 3, :the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night: and God said, Ask what I shall give thee” vs.5. Said Solomon: “Give therefore thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad” vs.9.

Interesting, the account given in Daniel: Nebuchadnezzar had a dream of which he wanted the interpretation: but the memory of it had left him. He wanted his sorcerers to recall the dream that he had forgotten and also give the interpretation. No one could do so. “Then was the secret revealed unto Daniel in a night vision” Dan. 2:19. The Lord revealed to Daniel in a dream, the dream that He, God, had given the king that the king had forgotten along, with the interpretation!

The only other mention of dreams (NT) is found in Matthew: The wise men after coming to worship the Lord Jesus, were “warned of God in a dream not to return to Herod” Matt. 2:12. After that, Joseph received of the Lord three more dreams: to flee to Egypt; to return to Israel; to return to Nazareth. Then in Matthew 27:19, Pilate’s wife “sent unto him, saying, Have thou nothing to do with this just man : for I have suffered many things this day in a dream because of him.” (Jude 8, we already covered.)

The Lord KNOWS.

Nothing in the past, in the present, or shall be in the future, be it in the realm of time or eternity has ever gone unnoticed or been hidden from the eyes of our Sovereign: “For His eyes are upon the ways of man, and He seeth all his goings. There is no darkness, nor shadow of death, where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves. Job 34:21-22. Also, “The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous” Psalm 34:15.

The Lord knows our thoughts. “And Jesus knowing their thoughts said, Wherefore think ye evil in your heart?” Matt. 9:4. Jesus, a mind reader? Well, He is God! The same is found in Matthew 12:24, in Luke 5:22, in Luke 6:8, Luke 11:17. And again, the Lord knoweth the thoughts of the ’wise’, that they are vain” I Cor. 3:20. “For the Word of God. . .is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart’ Heb. 4:12.

The Lord knows our dreams. Dear friend, this may seem a little far reaching; but the Lord knows our dreams. To deny it is to deny scripture. “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee” Isa. 26:3. Do our waking thoughts not have some effect on our dreams? If we would dream right, we would do well to think right; to “seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness!” We may quickly disregard or forget our dreams, but does our Lord do so? Nebuchadnezzer forgot, but God remembered and passed the dream on to Daniel. “I wouldn’t want anybody to know what I dreamed!” Somebody does. Let us meditate upon the Lord in our waking hours: but let us also say as David, “My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips: When I remember thee upon my bed, and meditate on thee in the night watches” Psalm 63:5-6. What of our dreams? Are they always folly; foolish? Sometimes they just might be profitable! “God does not speak to us in dreams!” Are you sure? Perhaps not to the extent that He spoke to Jacob or Daniel or Joseph. . .“God speaks to us by His Word!” Agreed! But dreams are another story. Don’t completely rule out the unknown because it is unknown: God knows what we do not know.