An Introduction to Dreams and Visions in the Bible and Today
God continues to give dreams and visions to his people.
Introduction
The Bible has been around for a very long time; it has stood the test of time and been widely distributed. The Bible is available in many different English translations and has been translated into numerous foreign languages as well. It is probably both the most loved and most hated book of all time. Its detractors claim that it is full of errors and contradictions, or that it is irrelevant. On the other hand, devout Christians believe that it is the Word of God. The doctrinal statements of many Christian denominations contain a statement to the effect that the Bible is the only reliable guide for faith and practice.
I believe that the Bible is the Word of God and that it was given to instruct and guide us. However, it must be admitted that it is not always an easy book to understand. There are a number of reasons for this. First, there is the matter of time. The Bible was written over the course of many centuries, in times that are very distant from our own.1 This distance can create difficulties for us as we seek to understand what the biblical text is saying. Second, the biblical books of both testaments are set in cultures that are very different from our Western 21st-century culture. The cultures of the Bible sometimes have different thoughts than ours.2 As a result, some of the cultural practices and understandings are foreign to us. Third, there are some things in the Bible that just are difficult to understand. For example, the apostle Peter said that some of the things the apostle Paul wrote about in his letters were difficult to understand (2 Pet. 3:15-16). If one inspired writer thinks that another inspired writer is difficult to understand, then you can be sure that it is true! Fourth, we should expect to find the Bible difficult to understand at times, because the Bible comes from a God whose ways and thoughts are higher than ours (Isa. 55:9). We are finite beings trying to understand an infinite God; the creation trying to understand the Creator. Lastly, there are some things in the Bible that we do not understand because we have not had any personal experience with them. People in the Bible experienced them, but many of us have not, especially those of us in the West.
Writing about the empowering ministry of the Holy Spirit, Gordon Fee says that some people conclude that this dimension of the Holy Spirit’s work does not exist today because they are exegeting their own experience, rather than the biblical text.3 They use their own experience as a grid in interpreting the Bible, and their experience becomes the norm of what God does and does not do today.4 This is certainly not the way that we are supposed to interpret the Bible, but the sad truth is that we can all be guilty of this from time to time. This is a potential problem, and all believers should be on their guard in an effort to keep from falling into this error. When Christians fall into this trap, they violate the evangelical tenet that the Bible is our only rule for faith and practice. In his book Gift & Giver: The Holy Spirit for Today, Craig Keener says that he has rarely witnessed miracles like those of Elijah, Elisha, or like the ones that we find in the gospels or the book of Acts; thus, based on his experience, he might conclude that such miracles do not happen today.5 However, he goes on to say that it is his desire to see what the Scripture teaches and to attempt to bring his experience, and that of the church, more in line with the biblical norm.6 This should be our desire as well.
Two areas of biblical experience that are often overlooked, or dismissed, today by a large portion of the church in the West are dreams and visions. We cannot deny that they were a part of biblical history; accounts of them are found in both the Old and New Testaments. In other parts of the world, even today, dreams and visions are being experienced. For example, in Muslim lands many Muslims are coming to faith in Jesus because of dreams and visions. Heather Mercer, an American who lived for a while in Afghanistan, mentioned this in an interview that she did with Voice of the Martyrs.7 Mercer was one of two Americans who were imprisoned in Afghanistan in 2001; her story is told in the book, Prisoners of Hope: The Story of Our Captivity and Freedom in Afghanistan. Kevin Greeson, who has ministered in large Muslim populations, also affirms that many Muslims are coming to faith in Christ because of dreams.8 Philip Johnson reports that in churches of the global South, prophecy, faith-healing, exorcism, and dreams and visions are basic parts of the Christian faith.9
Closely related to the first reason why dreams and visions may not be widely expected or accepted in the West is the fear of subjective experiences.12 There is no doubt subjective experiences can be dangerous; it is possible for one, however sincere or well-meaning, to be deceived. The Bible speaks about false dreams and visions (Jer. 23:32; Ezek. 13:7), so this is a matter of legitimate concern. Not every subjective experience a person has is necessarily from God. One can be mistaken about the origin of a subjective experience. A person may think that his or her experience is from God, but it may not be; discernment is needed. Aids in discernment include the scriptures, the Holy Spirit’s gift of distinguishing between spirits (1 Cor. 12:10), and the counsel of mature believers.
In addition, some believers may avoid these subjects altogether. They do this in reaction to other Christians who place a very heavy emphasis on dreams and visions. Those who avoid the topics of dreams and visions are trying to steer clear of what they perceive to be an extreme. In the process, they cut themselves off from two biblical ways in which the Lord may communicate with them.
The last reason that I suggest is one that I mentioned earlier, namely, that many believers in the western church have not experienced divinely inspired dreams and visions. This can be a major hurdle to accepting these acts of God. Hopefully a fresh look at the biblical texts will help renew a biblical expectation and experience of these revelatory phenomena.
In this book, we will examine the dreams and visions found in the New Testament. The Dictionary of Biblical Imagery indicates that both dreams and visions were recognized by ancient peoples but distinguishing between the two is sometimes difficult.13 Dreams seem to be nighttime events, and visions typically take place during the day.14 Categorizing night visions is more difficult.15 Were they dreams or visions? As we proceed through this study, I will note texts where there is some question about whether a particular experience was a dream or a vision.
We will begin our study by examining the dreams of the New Testament. We will do this by taking them in the order in which they appear beginning in Matthew’s gospel (which is also their historical order). After an examination of the biblical text of each dream, I will provide a brief “insights” section. In this section, I will highlight some of the things we can learn from each dream. I will be calling attention to what we can learn about how the Lord works in dreams.
After we complete our study of dreams, we will give our attention to the visions of the New Testament. We will do this in sections. First, we will look at the visions in the gospels, taking them in historical order (which in this case is not the same as the order in which we encounter them in the New Testament), and then we will look at the visions in the book of Acts, again taking them in historical order. Lastly, we will look at some miscellaneous references to visions which, for the most part, are found in other books in the New Testament. After we examine the biblical text of each vision, I will again have a brief “insights” section in which I will point out some of the things we can learn from each vision and how God works in them.
In the Bible, dreams and visions were given for very specific purposes. Though the purpose of each was different, there are at least four things that all New Testament dreams and visions seem to have in common: all were communications that came from God, all contained audible elements, all contained visual elements, and there is no biblical evidence that anyone who received a dream and vision sought these specific experiences. The details of each person’s situation are not as clear to us as Gideon’s. Scripture tells us that Gideon sought a very specific kind of guidance. His experience with the fleece, while it did not include a dream or vision, illustrates the point I am trying to make. We know he was looking for a specific kind of answer from the Lord (Jud. 6:36-40). He set the terms of how the Lord should answer him, but we cannot say that about those who received dreams and visions in the New Testament. If the people of the New Testament were seeking dreams and visions, we are not told about it. Dreams and visions are but two of a number of different ways in which the Lord can communicate with his people. For reasons known only to him, the Lord chose to communicate with the people in our texts by these two means.
After we have considered the New Testament texts regarding visions, I will cite examples of dreams and visions that have taken place in recent times. In addition to looking at these accounts, we will note the things that took place as the recipients acted on the revelations they received. The examples in this section come from information supplied to me by people in my network of friends as well as the writings of a few more well-known individuals. I will close the book by offering suggestions of how we, in the West, may reclaim dreams and visions as legitimate communications from God.
As we embark upon this journey, I hope that you will keep your heart open to the fact that dreams and visions are two very real ways in which God can communicate with his people. I want to stress that I am not suggesting that believers should specifically seek these things, but rather that we should be open to them (there is a difference). What we expect, in some measure, determines what we will receive. Dreams and visions are biblical, and God says that they will take place in the last days (Acts 2:16-17). According to the writer of the letter to the Hebrews, the last days began in Christ.16 Hebrews 1:2 connects Christ with the last days. The last days will continue until the last day (John 6:39); we are thus living in the last days. Therefore, let us remain open to the possibility that we may experience dreams and visions in our lifetime.
PR
This chapter is the Introduction to Dreams & Visions: Divine Interventions in Human Experience by John P. Lathrop and is reprinted here with permission.
In the New Testament a number of people received divinely inspired dreams and visions. Some of these individuals were leaders in the early church and others were not. Their experiences were unique, powerful and produced action. The Bible indicates that dreams and visions will continue to the present day. In this book you will find:
- Relevant texts regarding New Testament dreams and visions.
- Insights into what we can learn from each dream and vision.
- Reasons why we should expect dreams and visions today.
- Dreams and visions from the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.
- Accounts of what took place as people responded to the dreams and visions they received.
Notes
1 Gordon D. Fee and Douglas Stuart, How to Read the Bible for All It’s Worth (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1993), 18-19.
2 Ibid., 19.
3 Gordon D. Fee, Gospel and Spirit: Issues in New Testament Hermeneutics (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 1991), 119.
4 Ibid.
5 Craig S. Keener, Gift & Giver: The Holy Spirit for Today (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2001), 60-61.
6 Ibid.
7 See “Heather Mercer: On Reaching Muslims,” viewed December 3, 2011. [Editor’s note: The Voice of the Martyrs interviewed Heather Mercer in 2009 about reaching Muslims with the love of Jesus.]
8 Kevin Greeson, The Camel: How Muslims Are Coming to Faith in Christ (Arkadelphia, AR: WIGTake Resources, LLC, 2007), 11, 50.
9 Philip Jenkins, The Next Christendom: The Coming of Global Christianity (New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2002), 7-8.
10 Jack Deere, Surprised by the Power of the Spirit (Grand Rapids: MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1993), 14-15.
11 Ibid.
12 Robert Heidler, Experiencing the Spirit (Ventura, CA: Regal Books, 1998), 20.
13 Leland Ryken, James C. Wilhoit, et al., The Dictionary of Biblical Imagery (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1998), s.v. “Dreams, Visions,” 217.
14 Ibid.
15 Ibid.
16 Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1993), 651.
