DREAM ON
DR. TERRY BROWN
UNDERSTANDING DREAMS
In the early 1900’s, there was the garbage theoryabout dreams:
“dreams are the brain’s way of dumping data. We simply dream to forget”
In the mid 1900’s, there was the threat simulation theorywhich said that dreams are simply a dress rehearsal to a play that you cannot actually perform. Or a fire drill before or to be prepared for though the event will not occur.
In the early 2000’s, there was a shift to another theory called “dreams matter.” This theory argued that dreams do mean something and that man needs to reflect and analyze them.
The ancient Greeksand Romansbelieved that dreams were equal parts or predictions of future eventsand a way that you could communicate with the dead.
The Cambridge English Dictionary
A dream is a series of events or images that happen in your mind when you are sleeping.
Dictionary.com
A dream is a series of thoughts, images, and sensations occurring in a person’s mind during sleep.
What about Dreamsin the Bible?
The word ‘dream’ is mentioned 92 times which is primarily in the Old Testament.
The New Testament only has eight (8) occurrences.
Genesis 28:10-15(NKJV)
10 Now Jacob went out from Beersheba and went toward Haran. 11 So he came to a certain place and stayed there all night, because the sun had set. And he took one of the stones of that place and put it at his head, and he lay down in that place to sleep. 12 Then he dreamed, and behold, a ladder was set up on the earth, and its top reached to heaven; and there the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.
13 And behold, the Lord stood above it and said: “I am the Lord God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and your descendants. 14 Also your descendants shall be as the dust of the earth; you shall spread abroad to the west and the east, to the north and the south; and in you and in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed. 15 Behold, I am with you and will keepyou wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have spoken to you.”
God spoke to many people through dreams. It was the primary way that he spoke to the prophets to communicate with kings, leaders, and kingdoms.
There were other ways that God communicated as well.
I Samuel 28:6 (NKJV) “And when Saul inquired of the Lord, the Lord did not answer him, either by dreams or by Urim (and Thummim) or by the prophets.
Dreams were used with the word visions as well.
Daniel 1:17 (NKJV) “Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams.”
Joel 2:28 (NKJV) ““And it shall come to pass afterward That I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your old men shall dream dreams, Your young men shall see visions.” (Acts 2:17)
A dream can lead to direction or vision of what to do next.
Matthew 1:20 (NKJV) “But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.”
Matthew 2:12 (NKV) “Then, being divinely warned in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed for their own country another way.”
- 13“Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, “Arise, take the young Child and His mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I bring you word…”
Dreams could be a message from God to unbelieversas well as believers.
Matthew 27:19 “While he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent to him, saying, “Have nothing to do with that just Man, for I have suffered many things today in a dream because of Him.”
How does a dream work? What is supposed to be happening in adream?
What is God trying to show me in a dream?
Let the Bible interpret the Bible.
Seek wisdom and understanding.
Job 33:14-17 (NKJV)
“For God may speak in one way, or in another,
Yet man does not perceive it.
15 In a dream,in a vision of the night,
When deep sleepfalls upon men,
While slumbering on their beds,
16 Then He opensthe ears of men,
And seals their instruction.
17 In order toturn man from his deed,
And conceal pride from man,”
The Living Bible
14 “For God speaks again and again,
15 in dreams, in visions of the night when deep sleep falls on men as they lie on their beds.
16 He opens their ears in times like that and gives them wisdom and instruction,
17-18 causing them to change their minds, and keeping them from pride, and warning them of the penalties of sin, and keeping them from falling into some trap.
Good News Translation(GNT)
14 Although God speaks again and again,
no one pays attention to what he says.
15 At night when people are asleep,
God speaks in dreams and visions.
16 He makes them listen to what he says,
and they are frightened at his warnings.
17 God speaks to make them stop their sinning
and to save them from becoming proud.
Christian Standard Bible(CSB)
14 For God speaks time and again,
but a person may not notice it.
15 In a dream, a vision in the night,
when deep sleep comes over people
as they slumber on their beds,
16 he uncovers their ears
and terrifies them with warnings,
17 in order to turn a person from his actions
and suppress the pride of a person.
In the night, when my pride is hidden from me, open the ear of my heart and put instruction there and seal it that I won’t forget. (PT Paraphrase)