“Perhaps to dream” … mused Shakespeare. What is a dream made up of? Is it merely the synapses of the brain firing
in a semi-conscience sleep state associated with rapid eye movement, or
something more? Could it be the late
night pizza right before bed, combined with the everyday stress and periodic
fantasies that then come to life when trying to get some rest. But more than all of these, God has spoken to
men through their dreams. So has his
enemy. They can’t all be meaningless any
more than having them all mean something significant.
Growing up I frequently had dreams of flying. The sensation was something I cannot describe
with my conscience mind, only to say it felt like I imagine it would feel
like. The scarier side of the flying
dream, was the anti-gravity dream – in this one I just can’t stay on the ground
no matter how hard I cling to it. I rise
up relatively fast, above the neighborhood, city, state, nation, and planet,
eventually into space and beyond the Milkyway.
Now as an adult I have some idea through NASA photos, and science
fiction movies and TV what that might actually look like. But having this somewhat scary dream at age
seven seems a bit intense, even for me.
I cannot explain why the imagery was so perfectly clear in either kind
of childhood dream, nor do I attribute any significance to either one.
In my teen-age / early adulthood years the most positive
dream I ever had was about Heaven. I was
there literally with Christ (though I could not discern His face); we were
working with 24 elders on something I thought had to do with judgment. We were in a room inside a palatial building
inside the city of Heaven that remains too beautiful to describe. When I woke from this one, I felt the best
feeling I have ever had. On the
converse, I also dreamed I encountered Satan himself (although I could not
discern his face either) in a black robe with red lining along a country road
somewhere in the hills and woods of the deep south. The dream terrified me as his presence was so
evil I cannot find the words to convey it.
I just knew who it was. Both
these dreams were intense and when I awoke my entire body reacted to both sets
of stimuli. But I attribute no special
significance to either of these dreams.
I tend to side with the agnostics regarding the spiritual
significance of dreams and their interpretations. As the mind nears consciousness I am able to
control the actions and course of my dreams until the moment I awake. My past experiences lead me to believe that a
true communication from beyond my own plain would be a truly rare thing. It is not that I do not believe it to be
possible, but in general I remain skeptical, and slow to accept the idea. The metaphysical question of what is a
thought, or what is a dream, is more of interest to me personally.
But how do you know when you are being communicated with or
not? In the Old Testament, Pharaoh was
given a dream regarding the future of Egypt and the surrounding world. Several things interest me about that
story. First, Jacob was God’s chosen
servant, and he did not get the dream.
Second, Joseph was in Egypt at the time and he did not get the dream
either (even if only to corroborate what Pharaoh saw). When Joseph interpreted the dream he first
declares it to be from God. Joseph’s
ability to interpret seems as much the miracle as Pharaoh having the dream in
the first place. Then of course,
everything predicted happens exactly as foretold.
This example tells me that communication through dreams is
not only possible, it has happened before, and may again. The second thing it tells me as that the
person who has the dream does not have to be perfect, have their own
relationship with Christ, be a saint, or even believe in the Hebrew God. Pharaoh in point of fact was an active
blasphemer who already claimed he was god on earth. The second thing this example tells me is
that Pharaoh, probably because of all the conditions I just listed, could not
tell the meaning of his dream, but knew it meant something. Next up was Joseph, whose relationship with
Christ was close enough to be able to discern the meaning in Pharaoh’s stark
imagery. The dream itself by the way,
did not make sense. Famine cows
consuming fat cows, withered corn stalks eating up ripe corn stalks – sounds
like a Stephen King movie to me. But
Joseph saw the next 14 years foretold in that sequence.
One other notable lesson from this example, Pharaoh being
human, likely had dreams his whole life long – both before and after this
event; none of them ever had the same effect.
And contrary to the endless doomsayers who speculate on God as being a
vengeful, angry, killer of men – God sent this very dream to save people, not
destroy them. Though his diligent work
of building granaries and storing the excess crops for the first seven years,
Pharaoh and Joseph saved not only the chosen people of Israel (Jacob and his
rather large household who were striken by the famine even in the promised
land), but they saved the people of Egypt, and the other surrounding nations as
well. Trading corn and grain for gold
and silver, Egypt became a world power through this series of events. But not to lose the point, God sent this
dream to Pharaoh as he alone could spare SO MANY of his children.
Unfortunately, for the rare factual God based communication
that was given to Pharaoh, there is a myriad of people who also believe they
too have been given a message to the world from God. Well intentioned folks believe that any kind
of communication sent to them, must by default come from God. They do not assume that late night meals,
visual stimuli, chemical imbalances, and the human imagination could ever conjure
up these messages. They assume that
because a frequent visitor brings them messages it must be real somehow. It is possible. After all Pharaoh proves that. But probable?
To know what is what we have a few things to consider. First of all, logic dictates that and we have
already discussed that the nature of God is good, lacking all evil as evil
self-destructs. Therefore it stands to
reason that God would be consistent. He
does not change or vary from one eon to another, only good is there, both now,
then, and always. So if the contents of
a dream do not align with what we already know about God it is highly likely
the “message” did not come from Him.
God uses communication to save, to uplift, for the benefit
of mankind (and frankly not just some of mankind, but all of mankind). God is not about destruction, but about
salvation. His entire love letter (also
known as the Bible) and his creation of the beauty and complexity of nature
itself, are consistent with who He is.
While evil may taint our world, our minds, and our ability to understand
– God is consistent in His communication with us to teach us of His love.
Love is a free will choice.
Love is not without constraints.
I show you my love for you by what I do for you. It would be hard to reconcile the idea that I
love my very small child, if I allow my child to start playing in the street
with high traffic. I keep them out of
the street as I know better than my child, what will keep them safe. So it is with God. If the message says to let go, run wild,
embrace evil, everything will be fine – it is probably not from God. Conversely if the message is designed to
constrict thinking, reduce choices, or enforce mandates without reason it too
is likely not from God. Love is a free
will choice.
Evaluating messages based on the person who delivers them is
completely pointless. Pharaoh proved
that too. But evaluating messages based
on the content of the message is our responsibility. We must compare what is being said, to what
we know of God, what we read in His word, and what we see in nature. If still confused or uncertain, we should
bring it before the Lord in prayer and ask for guidance. God is ALWAYS out to teach us of His love,
what love is, and what it means to love.
He is our salvation, not our deceiver.
He will not lead us away from His throne of grace. We must look to our Father God, our Creator
God, and ask for, and be willing to receive guidance from Him in these matters.
The problem with scrutinizing these kinds of messages and
dreams is that most of them (if not all) fall apart fairly quickly. The inconsistencies are usually clear to see
and point out. The dreamers appear the
most reluctant to scrutinize their own messages as they seem less interested in
finding out their “source” may not be what they thought. If we are not willing to hear the “no”, how
can we be ready to hear the “yes” when it comes. Truth is out there. It can and one day will come in the “dreams
of your young men” as we have been promised, as well as in the “prophesies of
your old men”. Someday. But we must learn to discern truth from
error, realizing there is much error and little truth in our world. When truth comes, it will stand scrutiny, as
Christ stood scrutiny. He has His
accusers as well, but they could not break His purity or His purpose. Truth will stand in this way as well …
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