Dreams & Interpretations

By Venessa Holtzhausen

In the Tanakh, dreams were a common mode of divine revelation. (Genesis 20:3; 27:12; 31:10-11; 40:5; 41:1; Numbers 12:6; Judges 7:13; 1 Kings 3:5; Daniel 2:3; 4:5; 7:1).

What happened in chapter 40 is, that it is conjectured that these officials were accused of plotting to poison Pharaoh.

Indeed God speaks once, or twice, yet no one notices it – in a dream, a vision of the night. When sound sleep falls on men, while they slumber in their beds. Then He opens the ears of men and seals their instruction. (Job 33:14-16)

Dreams are one of the most overlooked forms of communication used by God. The Word of God consistently reveals God as speaking to people through this universally experienced and mysterious phenomenon. The Lord uses dreams for a variety of purposes:

• to warn global leaders of future events. (Gen 41:1-8)
• to provide revelation to His prophets (Num 12:6)
• to warn us against certain decisions. (Matt 27:17-19)
• to reveal His divine destiny for our lives. (Gen 37:5-8)
• to answer our recent petitions and prayers. (1 Kings 3:5-15)

Acts 2:17 confirms that God continues to use dreams as a means of communication in the New Testament age. Since this is the case the question must be asked, “Are all dreams from God?” Are we to wake up every morning looking for some hidden, spiritual message in our dreams? The answer is no.

When we do receive a spiritual dream they are usually one of three types.

1. Warning Dream – This type is meant to warn us about some future attack from the enemy or some difficult time ahead. This could be a warning about a friend, spouse, or child. These are given so that we might pray and intercede for the individual. Often times the calamity is not decreed from above and through prayer the hardship can be avoided. Example from Scripture: Abimelech warned not to sleep with Abraham’s wife. (Gen. 20:3-7)
2. Confirmation Dream – This dream simply confirms that what you believe to be true about a person or situation is in fact true. This type of dream is used to give you the emotional impetus to act on what you already know to be true but have thus far been unresponsive towards. Example from Scripture: Pilate’s wife’s dream confirming that her husband should release Jesus from custody. (Matt. 27:17-19)
3. Prophetic Dream – A dream which reveals the future concerning yourself, another individual, a nation, etc. Example from Scripture: As a 17-year-old, Joseph dreamt about his future place of honor and high governmental service. (Gen. 37: 5-8)

Spiritual dreams are God’s sole prerogative, so we must always be ready. When they do come we need to quickly record them and then begin to pray for the interpretation. Spiritual dreams when heeded, keep us in the will of God and remind us that we do indeed serve a God who knows us intimately and who takes the time to speak to His children individually for our own safety and care.

Dreams, being a form of revelation, hold to the same rules as revelation. To be from God, a dream needs to do the following:

• Agree with Scripture;
• Carry the character of God and fit His personality;
• Be truthful, accurate;
• Bear good fruit;
• Point to Jesus and
• Be full of colour and light.

The Scripture Test

A dream from God will not violate what He has already revealed in Scripture. Like other forms of revelation, dreams are never intended to create doctrine or establish a rule of faith or practice for all people at all times—only the Bible can do such a thing.

It isn’t a dream from God if it tells you to steal, commit adultery, murder or violate any other moral commandment. Similarly, it isn’t a dream from God if it tells you not to pray, that another god is God, that you shouldn’t go to church or share your faith, that you shouldn’t serve or give. Dreams from God will not change Scripture.

The Character Test

One of the keys to recognizing God’s voice is knowing the difference between conviction and condemnation. Conviction is about activity, whereas condemnation is about identity. Conviction is specific, whereas condemnation is vague. Conviction cuts to the heart but leaves hope for change, while condemnation strips us of hope for change. When we are dealing with condemnation, we begin to believe the weight of our sin is so great that we will never be free.

The Holy Spirit shows us where we aren’t living out the new life we have in Christ, so we can repent and come back to His heart. The enemy, meanwhile, slanders and accuses us until we are left hopeless and feeling defeated. When the Holy Spirit brings conviction, we can repent and turn back to His ways and the weight of the conviction lifts. But when the enemy is condemning us, it doesn’t matter how much we repent—it
won’t feel like enough.

A dream that leaves you feeling hopeless, like you will never be good enough for God or like you’ve done something that forever marks you and holds you back from His purpose for you—that is not a dream from God. It is from the enemy. Rebuke such dreams and don’t believe them. Instead, ask God to show you His heart for you.

The Accuracy Test

The word “revelation” refers to something you didn’t know previously. Just because a “revelation” is accurate doesn’t mean it is from God (see Matt. 7:21–23). At the same time, God doesn’t lie, so all revelation from Him will be accurate.

Understanding the difference between what is from God and what is not from God will keep us from chasing after deceptive signs, wonders and even deceptive revelation. Though the accuracy test is important when determining if a dream is from God, the other tests need to be employed as well.

The Fruit Test

The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, kindness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (Gal. 5:22–23). A dream from God will never direct you to hate someone, become fearful, lose control or accuse another person.

But if you have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, do not boast and do not lie against the truth. This wisdom descends not from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, and devilish. For where there is envying and strife, there is confusion and every evil work.

But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy (James 3:14-17).

The Jesus Test

In Deuteronomy 13 and 18, God gives keys to recognizing true and false revelation. When discerning the source of a dream, this is the main question we should ask: “Does the revelation point us to a god other than Jesus?” The spirit of prophecy is the testimony of Jesus (Rev. 19:10), which means that all true revelation will lead us to Him.

Did the dream tempt you to put your trust in anything other than Jesus? Or did it cause your heart to fall more in love with Him?

The Colour Test

God is light, and around His throne is a rainbow of color. The Bible often uses “light” vs. “dark” and “day” vs. “night” as metaphors for good and evil, God and Satan. A dream from God will often be full of color and bright light.

The Main Thing to Remember

The foundation of discerning your dreams is relationship. As you draw closer to God, He will reveal what is from Him and what is not. If you approach dreams and supernatural experiences from a position of relationship, you will find yourself walking on safe, steady ground. Your Father is good and He wants to speak to you. When you ask Him for bread, He won’t give you a stone (Luke 11:11–13).

John E. Thomas is the president of Streams Ministries and the coauthor of The Art of Praying the Scriptures: A Fresh Look at Lectio Divina with John Paul Jackson. Teaching on prophetic ministry, dream interpretation and the kingdom of God, he travels internationally and works to help restore the awe of God to a world that has lost its wonder. John and his wife, Dawna, live near Dallas, Texas. 

Amen!