Dreams

Romans 15:5-6 “May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had, so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Home | Sermon Transcripts | Sermon Text | Dreams

Dreams

Rev. Johnson V

30th October 2011

We’ve all had dreams at some time or the other. Sometimes we remember our dreams and other times, we don’t. There are 3 sources of dreams. From God, Job 33:15-1. It’s not just holy people or saints that receive dreams from God. God gives dreams to even ordinary people like us. He speaks to us through dreams to correct us and give us direction. Sometimes dreams are a result of an overactive mind at the end of a busy day. See Ecclesiastes 5:3 and 7. But sometimes our dreams are a result of demon spirits wanting to confuse or frighten us, Jeremiah 23:27.
When we dream divine dreams, it is God literally putting His thoughts into our minds. In the Bible, prophesy and dreams are given the same importance. A dream is like having an angel prophesy to us. It is a gift of the Holy Spirit (Joel 2:28). Divine dreams will need to be interpreted in order for it to be understood completely. God will sometimes give us multiple dreams on the same theme, in order to emphasize a message. Or sometimes the same dream will be repeated multiple times to emphasize the importance of the dream. Or multiple dreams can together form a single message (Daniel 2:1). Our response to a divine dream, must be in faith and prayer. It is our choice whether we remember the dream or not, and also our choice how we respond to it, whether in obedience or not. The fulfillment of the dreams that God gives us, is not dependent on external circumstances or the acceptance of the dream by those around us. Understanding dreams is a gift given by God to specific people (Daniel 1:17). God expects us to be honest and faithful in interpreting dreams (Jeremiah 23:28). Deuteronomy 13:1-5, tells us how to test if the dream is from a Divine source or not.
Some examples of dreams as recorded in the Bible are as follows.

Genesis 20:3 - God appeared to Abimelech to warn him about Abraham’s wife.
Genesis 28:12 – Jacob dreamed of a ladder that was setup on earth, the top of which reached to heaven. This was not something that God set up, but Jacob did by his commitments and decisions. We must be clear that the ladders we set up must eventually lead to Him.
Genesis 31:10 – Jacob dreamed of spotted and speckled sheep. God helped Jacob gather a large flock as payment for his work for Laban. God gave Jacob direction through this dream.
Genesis 31:24 – God gave Laban a dream. Laban was Jacob’s father-in-law who had deceived him, twice over. Sometimes God will give our enemies dreams on our behalf.
Genesis 41:1 – God gave pharaoh two dreams that Joseph interpreted. God clarifies His ways and we must take time to understand Him.
Daniel 2:1 – King Nebuchadnezzar had a dream that Daniel interpreted.

The story is told in Daniel 2. The king was so disturbed after his dream that he forgot it. He then issued a command to the wise men in his courts, to find out what his dream was and then interpret it. This was a difficult thing, and the wise men and sorcerers present in the court protested. The king commanded all his wise men, be put to death. When Daniel found out about the decree, he asked the king for a little more time as only God could know the answer that the king was seeking. Daniel and his friends prayed and God was faithful to give Daniel details of the dream and the interpretation.

The dream itself was interesting and has great significance for us, even today. King Nebuchadnezzar dreamt of a great image, whose head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass, legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay. Then the king saw a stone that was not made by earthly hands hit the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and break it to pieces. The wind carried the pieces away until there was nothing left. And the stone became a great mountain and filled the whole earth. Daniel receives the interpretation of the dream from God who tells him that the head of gold is king Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylon empire that reigned from BC 626 to BC 528. Then came the Medo-persian empire from BC 538 to BC 330, which made up the breast and arms of silver. The belly and thighs of bronze were the Greek empire that was in place from BC 330 to BC 168. The legs of iron were the Roman empire from BC 168 to AD 76. Though the Roman empire’s political system has come to an end, the religious system it instituted is still in practice today in the Roman Catholic church. That explains why in the last age, there is a mixture of part iron and part clay referring to the current age where there is a mixed religious and world system in place. This is the age that we are currently living in. We are not sure when the stone will bring the statue down, but we can be sure that at some point in human history, it will happen. Praise God!