Mankind has always desired to hear from God or the gods, by whatever name they have called him or them. Much religious activity, some of which we might consider to be absurd, has gone into trying to receive that message, even to the point of using drugs to “open one’s mind” to visions. More than anything, this hasn’t been done so much to have a relationship or even a conversation with whatever god the religious acts were done in the name of, but rather to seek knowledge of what the future held. Fear of the unknown is still one of the greatest fears there is and the future is one big unknown.
What is Prophecy?
When we talk about trying to receive knowledge of the future, we’re talking about the realm of prophecy; a broad term that includes both visions and dreams. But while our desire is to know the future, in order to gain from that knowledge or to prepare for coming problems, that isn’t necessarily God’s purpose.
I have declared the former things from the beginning; they went forth from My mouth, and I caused them to hear it. Suddenly I did them, and they came to pass… 5 Even from the beginning I have declared it to you; before it came to pass I proclaimed it to you, lest you should say, ‘My idol has done them, and my carved image and my molded image have commanded them.’ – Isaiah 48:3, 5
Here we see God’s purpose in prophecy; it’s so that when things come to pass, we know it is God that is doing it. Take the events of the book of Revelations, for example. It contains a detailed account of calamities which will befall the Earth during the time of the Great Tribulation. Most Christians believe that we won’t be here to experience those calamities, having been taken out of here in the rapture of the church. Yet, there is considerable interest in knowing the details of what is to come, as if we had to be ready for it. No, that prophecy is there, so that those who are here during that time will be offered the opportunity to recognize that it is God who is orchestrating the events, rather than whatever excuses the scientists, politicians and news media of the day try to give.
What are Visions?
The book of Revelations is the only book of prophecy contained in the New Testament; but the opening to this interesting book gives us some rather clear understanding of how the prophets operated. In the first chapter, the apostle John informs us that he was on the island of Patmos and had a vision. The entire book ends up being a running narrative of him describing a series of interrelated visions.
I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day, and I hard behind me a loud voice, as of a trumpet. 11 “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last,” and, “What you see, write in a book and send it to the seven churches which are in Asia: to Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamos, to Thyatira, to Sardis, to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea.” – Revelations 1:10-11
John then tells us he turned to see where the voice he heard was coming from and immediately starts describing what he sees. Revelations are so vivid to us, leading us to see what he saw, even if our interpretation of his images looks different than what he actually saw.
This ability to “see” visions led to prophets being referred to as “seers” before the name “prophet” gained in popularity. The Bible itself gives us this connection, in a parenthetical statement in the book of Samuel, ensuring that there will be no misunderstanding or attempt to try and define the two groups as being different ministry giftings.
(Formerly in Israel, when a man went to inquire of God, he spoke thus: “Come let us go to the seer”; for he who is now called a prophet was formerly called a seer.) – 1 Samuel 9:9
While the book of Revelations most clearly shows us the prophet’s ministry being through visions, but John was not alone in that. One striking example, with about as much detail as we see in Revelations, is when God reveals the design of the new temple to Ezekiel, in Ezekiel, chapters 40 to 48; the most striking part (as being a vision) being chapter 47. This temple can be seen to be the same temple that John saw in Revelations, chapter 22.
Then he (the Lord) brought me back to the door of the temple; and there was water, flowing from under the threshold of the temple toward the east, for the front of the temple faced east; the water was flowing from under the right side of the temple, south of the altar… – Ezekiel 47:1
The Prophet Daniel had many visions as well, such as the vision of the four beasts, in Daniel, chapter 7 and the vision of the man in chapter 10. In that particular instance, it is clear that he was having a vision, because his companions did not see the man or angel that he did.
There are many other examples that we can use; but these should suffice for illustration. It should be noted that the number of people who God or God’s Holy Spirit showed visions to is limited. The only ones who we know to have had visions are those who are called by the title “prophet.” It is clear in the Old Testament and if we accept that the Apostle John was also a prophet, as given evidence by him writing the only book of prophecy in the New Testament, it is also clear in the New Testament, that the primary people in the Bible who received visions where those who were called to the office and anointed with the ministry of being prophets.
God uses visions as one of His key methods of talking to his people, especially his prophets. However, even though visions are mostly given to prophets, we can see in the Old Testament that He didn’t just give visions to prophets. There are a few cases where He gave visions to people who were not and are not recognized as prophets… perhaps they should be.
Then Moses went up, also Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, 10 and the saw the God of Israel. And there was under His feet as it were a paved work of sapphire stone, and it was like the very heavens in its clarity. – Exodus 24:9-10
But he (Stephen), being full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God, 56 and said, “Look! I see the heavens opened up and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!” – Acts 7:55-56
How About Dreams?
Dreams are different from visions, primarily in that they happen when the person receiving them is asleep, much like the normal visions that we all receive. There are a number of accounts of people receiving dreams in the Bible, both in the Old and New Testaments.
Then he (Jacob)2 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… – Genesis 28:12-13
But while he2 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 1:20
Both of these examples seem much like visions. With that being the case, why didn’t God communicate with these men through visions, rather than dreams? We gain an important hint in this, early on in the book of Acts, in the Apostle Peter’s famous first preaching on the day of Pentecost. He begins his message by explaining that those gathered in the upper room weren’t drunk “as some supposed,” but rather that their speaking in many tongues was an act of the Holy Spirit, speaking through them.
But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joe: 17 ‘And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, that I will pour out of my Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your young men shall see visions, your old men shall dream dreams” – Acts 2:16-17 (quoting Joel 2:28)
Looking at this only on the surface, it almost seems that the only distinction between visions and dreams might be the age of the person seeing them. That doesn’t seem likely. We can find examples of God using old and young, without any apparent consideration as to their age. So, there must be something else.
The other thing that this verse does is to make it seem like visions and dreams are much alike. It is as if we could say that visions are dreams that we have when we are awake and dreams are visions that we have when we are asleep.
While the Bible doesn’t actually define how God operates in this regard, it shows us examples. Based upon those, it appears that the difference between the two might not lay in God and how He operates; but rather in the people that He is trying to communicate with. It appears that He uses dreams with people who are just too busy to hear His voice and see what He is trying to show them.
If we accept the idea that God shows visions to prophets and gives dreams to those who aren’t, it raises the question of “Why does He operate that way?” The answer to that question is that the prophets were much more focused on Him, spending time in prayer and intercession. They were literally making time to receive a message from God, even if they had some other job to do, as the prophet Daniel did.
On the other hand, Joseph was a carpenter and Jacob was a schemer. Their minds were occupied with other things, rather than being occupied with hearing from God. With that being the case, it makes a lot of sense that God would speak to them in dreams; that was the only time when they were quiet enough to hear Him, hear his angels, or see the vision He was trying to give them.
Are All Dreams from God?
This brings us to a very important question, one that a lot of people struggle with. That is, are all dreams from God? Some say yes to this question, to the point where they are looking for significance in any dream that they or anyone they know has. They study interpretation of dreams, looking at symbology to seek out meaning. Yet there is great danger in this, as we might attribute something to God, which really didn’t come from Him.
Some others say that it is possible to tell the dreams which are from God, because we remember them, whereas we tend to quickly forget all others. Yet that too is dangerous, allowing us to attribute dreams to God that didn’t originate with Him. Worse, since the devil can speak to us as well, we could find ourselves accepting a dream as being from God, when it actually came from the devil.
So, how do we know if a dream is from God or not? We need something that defines it in such a way so as to protect us from accepting the wrong messages, thinking they are right.
To start with, we have the examples of dreams shown in the Bible. All of them show something that God wants to show mankind, so that His purposes are accomplished. There is not one case in scripture of someone receiving a dream that their rich uncle would die and leave them a Lamborghini. Nor is there a single case of God showing them that their childhood sweetheart would come back to them, leaving their spouse to do so.
Okay, maybe those are extreme cases; but the point is still valid. The human mind somehow uses dreams to play out our desires, whether they are desires for certain things that we want, or certain things that we want to be. Many men want to be heroes and their dreams play out a thousand different scenarios of them as the hero in the story.
But there’s more. since we’ve already accepted that dreams and visions are prophetic, then the things that the Bible says about prophecy also apply to dreams and visions as well. With that understanding, we can apply the admonition that the apostle John gives in his first epistle:
Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, 3 and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirt of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world. – 1 John 4:1-3
There it is, clear direction as to how discern if something we receive is of God or not; if the message or messenger declares that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh, it is of God. Does that mean that someone in the dream has to actually say those words? Not necessarily; but the message of the dream must support the fact. If it does not, then it is not of God; it is merely another dream.
What Should You Do with Dreams and Visions?
Dreams, visions and other prophecies from God are important, even if that is just to us personally and nobody else. With that being the case, what should we do once we receive them?
The human mind is amazing in its ability to forget things. While there are plenty of things that we remember, it seems that there are also many that we forget. We can receive revelation from God one moment, which is so powerful that we think we’ll never forget it… and then can’t remember it five minutes later. God Himself gives us the answer for this.
Then the Lord answered me and said: “Write the vision and make it plain on tablets, that he may run who sees it. 3 For the vision is yet for an appointed time; but at the end it will speak, and it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry. – Habacuc 2:2-3
There it is – write the vision or the dream down. It can be on paper or even in an electronic device; but the point is to write it down somewhere where it can’t be lost or damaged. In that time, that meant on tablets, as parchment or other replacements for paper could be destroyed. Today, we have other methods; just make sure it will be a permanent record.
But there’s another thing this says; that is to wait for it to be fulfilled. God doesn’t show us something in a vision or dream so that we will do it; but rather so that we will recognize it when it comes. As we started out with in the beginning of this study, back in Isaias 48, the purpose of those dreams and visions, as with any other prophecy, is so that we’ll recognize that God is the one who is doing it, when it comes to pass.