Dreams

Dreams are thoughts, images, or emotions that happen during sleep. People have always found dreams fascinating because they feel vivid and real.

Since ancient times, people have seen dreams as mysterious. They believed dreams were a real world where a person lived while sleeping. People sometimes thought dreams, especially those of emperors and kings, were messages from the gods.

Ancient dreams recorded through writing focused on three main areas:

religion,

politics, and

personal destiny.

Religious dreams encouraged devotion to the gods. Political dreams predicted battle outcomes and the future of nations. Personal dreams influenced family decisions and warned of serious crises.

Sometimes the god took the initiative and warned the person about something unexpected. Sometimes the ruler or general went to a pagan temple or holy place and slept there, hoping to have a dream that would help him solve a serious problem. In some dreams, the message was clear. More often, individuals who specialized in dream interpretation had to discover it. They kept records of specific dreams and the events that followed.

Dreams were important to God's people. The Old Testament mentions dreams nearly 120 times. In Genesis, during the early patriarchal period, there are 52 references. The book of Daniel has 29 references. However, only 14 specific dreams are recorded in the Old Testament. Most of these are in Genesis and show God's direct messages to the patriarchs. Daniel describes only two of Nebuchadnezzar's dreams:

the large, human-like image, and

the giant tree that was cut down.

Daniel also shares his own dream about the four beasts and the Ancient of Days.

The Old Testament understanding of dreams had important features. Like others in the ancient world, God's people believed God spoke through dreams. While pagan dream records often describe perverse scenes, Old Testament accounts show restraint.

Another difference is that God initiates these dreams. He gives them when, where, and to whom he chooses, as Saul learned the hard way (1 Samuel 28:6, 15). More importantly, they rejected the secular way of interpreting dreams. Understanding dream symbols did not come from dream books or human skill. When Joseph interpreted the dreams of his Egyptian fellow prisoners and later the pharaoh, he gave full credit to God (Genesis 40:8; 41:7, 25, 28, 39). Similarly, Daniel told Nebuchadnezzar that the God in heaven, who reveals secrets, would explain the king’s dream and its meaning. The king's professional dream interpreters could not accomplish that task (Daniel 2:27–28).

Unlike their neighbors, the Old Testament saints understood that a dream was a "vision in the night" (Job 33:15). The figures and symbols of a dream or vision represented the meaning of the spiritual realm (Job 20:8; Psalms 73:20; 126:1; Isaiah 29:7–8).

In Old Testament times, God used dreams:

to protect his servants (Genesis 20),

to reveal himself in special ways (28:12),

to provide guidance in specific situations (31:10–13),

to warn about personal future events (37:5–20),

to predict the history of nations (chapters 40–41), and

to foretell four great world empires that God's eternal kingdom would replace (Daniel 4:19–27).

In the 1,000 years between Joseph and Daniel, only two dreams are recorded. One dream assured Gideon that God would defeat the Midianites (Judges 7:13–15). The other dream explains how Solomon became wise after he humbly asked for an understanding heart, which pleased God greatly (1 Kings 3:9, 15).

In the last of the recorded Old Testament dreams, God provided Nebuchadnezzar with a summary of future world history (Daniel 2:31–45). This dream also predicted the king’s temporary insanity (Daniel 4:19–27). Daniel’s dream of the four beasts resembled the king’s first dreams. It also included more details about future international relations (Daniel 7:13–14).

People believed that God spoke to prophets through dreams (Numbers 12:6). But how could they tell a true prophet from a fake one? God provided two tests:

the ability to predict the immediate future (Deuteronomy 18:22) and

ensuring the message matched earlier revealed truths (13:1–4).

False prophets were put to death (5). False prophecy was a big issue during Jeremiah's and Zechariah's times (Jeremiah 23:25–32, Zechariah 10:2). Jeremiah repeatedly warned the people against false prophets (Jeremiah 23:32; 27:9–10; 29:8–9). However, the people often preferred listening to false prophets with their empty promises of hope. Dreams were also part of Israel's prophetic hope (Joel 2:28).

The few specific dreams in the New Testament all come from Matthew, with five in the first two chapters. They highlight God's care and protection of the infant Jesus. First, God ensured Jesus would grow up with both a father and mother, avoiding the shame of being wrongly called illegitimate (Matthew 1:19–23). Then the wise men were instructed in a dream not to tell Herod where Jesus was living (2:12). A dream also warned Joseph to flee to Egypt with Mary and Jesus to protect them from the jealous King Herod (verse 13). After Herod's death, a dream advised Joseph to return home from Egypt (verse 20). Finally, God warned Joseph to avoid Judea, where Herod's evil son Archelaus ruled, and to settle in Galilee instead (verse 22).

The only other specific dream mentioned in the New Testament prompted Pilate’s wife warn her husband. Because of her dream, she told him to “Have nothing to do with that innocent man” (Matthew 27:19).

See also Prophecy and Visions.