Dreams and Visions

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Dreams and visions are perhaps some of the most common ways God has communicated with humankind. The Bible contains more than 50 references to dreams and visions in which God delivered messages. Abraham learned of his promised lineage through dreams and visions. Jacob's life was drastically changed through a series of dreams in which he received God's promises regarding his heritage. God revealed Joseph's destiny through his dreams. Daniel, Obadiah, Nahum and Zechariah were among the prophets often visited with revelations from God through visions and dreams.

Great protection was given to the Christ child as God's messengers spoke to Joseph and the Magi in dreams. The apostles Peter, Paul and John were later visited by the Spirit of God in visions.

Webster's dictionary defines a dream as "a succession of images or ideas present in the mind during sleep." Dreams are formed in the subconscious mind based on images and symbols that are unique to the individual, depending on his or her background, experience and current life circumstances. Dreams can communicate truth about ourselves—or others—that our conscious minds might have failed to acknowledge. One word for dream in the Greek language is enupnion, which is defined as "something seen in sleep or a vision in a dream." Dreams can originate strictly within the natural mind or can be given as messages from God's Spirit and received within the mind. They are not always easy to understand, but dreams are one means by which God might choose to speak to us.

Webster's dictionary defines a vision as "the act or power of perceiving abstract or invisible subjects as clearly as if they were visible objects." A vision is also defined as "foresight." One Hebrew word for vision is chizzayown, which literally means "a revelation." A Greek word translated as "vision" in the New Testament, horasis, means "the act of gazing at something or an inspired appearance."

Dreams and visions are basically the same except that a dream occurs during periods of sleep, while a vision generally refers to images or revelations received in picture form while awake. I have often heard people say that they had a dream just before getting out of bed in the morning, but they were not sure if it was a dream or a vision since they thought they were awake at the time. Whether these were dreams or visions is immaterial. More important is the message of the revelation.

Joshua 1:8 tells us to meditate upon God's Word both day and night. Meditating on God's Word before bed often results in revelation through a dream. At times this might be a divine revelation—God speaking to you through the dream. Or it might be a personal revelation—your subconscious mind revealing your deepest, innermost thoughts. Psalm 16:7 confirms this: "I will bless the Lord who has given me counsel; my affections also instruct me in the night seasons."

How We Receive Dreams

Dreams are messages sent either from God's Spirit or from our own souls, which comprise the mind, will and emotions. The subconscious mind within our souls provides the background or screen for these messages to be displayed on. Spiritual dreams are inspired by God, then communicated to our subconscious minds. These must then be received and discerned by our conscious minds through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Just as television and radio waves are broadcast through the air and must be tuned in to, so dreams are constantly being broadcast to the subconscious mind, both by God's Spirit and by our own souls. We must learn to turn on our receivers and tune in to the messages being sent.

The prophet Micah said that he "saw" the Word of the Lord (Micah 1:1). How did he see this word? The New International Version of the Bible calls this a vision. Micah likely saw images or pictures projected on the screen of his mind, which communicated God's word to him.

If we compare the communication of the Spirit of the Lord through dreams to other methods of divine communication mentioned in Scripture—prophecy, a word of knowledge, etc.—the primary difference is that dreams are given first to the subconscious mind before being perceived by the conscious mind.

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