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Dreams and Dream Interpretation

Dreams

Dreams are one of the ways the Lord speaks to us. The Bible contains many dreams: some of which are symbolic, others are direct, and in some people have an encounter or conversation with the Lord.

Dreams as a Symbolic Language

Dreams are sometimes highly symbolic and abstract. Jesus spoke in parables, a method of telling stories representing a fundamental truth in a symbolic or metaphoric way.

All these things Jesus said to the crowds in parables; indeed, he said nothing to them without a parable. This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet: “I will open my mouth in parables;  I will utter what has been hidden since the foundation of the world.” Matthew 13:34-35 (see Psalm 78:2)

The Lord says something very similar Aaron and Miriam:

And [The Lord] said, “Hear my words: If there is a prophet among you, I the Lord make myself known to him in a vision; I speak with him in a dream. Not so with my servant Moses. He is faithful in all my house. With him I speak mouth to mouth, clearly, and not in riddles, and he beholds the form of the Lord. Numbers 12:6-8

The Lord speaks through Hosea about the same idea:

I spoke to the prophets;  it was I who multiplied visions,  and through the prophets gave parables. Hosea 12:10

Even Ezekiel shows some frustration with the symbolic language the Lord asks him to prophesy:

And the word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, set your face toward the southland; preach against the south, and prophesy against the forest land in the Negeb. Say to the forest of the Negeb, Hear the word of the Lord: Thus says the Lord God, Behold, I will kindle a fire in you, and it shall devour every green tree in you and every dry tree. The blazing flame shall not be quenched, and all faces from south to north shall be scorched by it. All flesh shall see that I the Lord have kindled it; it shall not be quenched.”Then I said, “Ah, Lord God! They are saying of me, ‘Is he not a maker of parables?’” Ezekiel 20:45-49

Although when the Lord speaks sometimes it can be difficult to understand to symbolism, there is great value in searching that out:

It is the glory of God to conceal things, but the glory of kings is to search things out. Proverbs 25:2

Peter, who lived with Jesus in the flesh for three years, was confused by the symbolic language he received in a vision:

Now while Peter was inwardly perplexed as to what the vision that he had seen might mean … Acts 10:17

Just as the Lord created the dream and encoded a message in it, so too can the Lord decode it:

They said to him, “We have had dreams, and there is no one to interpret them.” And Joseph said to them, “Do not interpretations belong to God? Please tell them to me.” Genesis 40:8

Nebuchadnezzar has a dream about a tree in which he is unable to interpret or understand. Yet he knows the value of a dream and consults Daniel because he knows The Lord is with Daniel:

This dream I, King Nebuchadnezzar, saw. And you, O Belteshazzar, tell me the interpretation, because all the wise men of my kingdom are not able to make known to me the interpretation, but you are able, for the spirit of the holy gods is in you. Daniel 4:18

The Lord seems to use symbolism that is meaningful to us. Joseph (with the coat) dreams of wheat, and the Egyptian baker dreams of cakes:

He said to them, “Hear this dream that I have dreamed: Behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and behold, my sheaf arose and stood upright. And behold, your sheaves gathered around it and bowed down to my sheaf.” Genesis 37:6-7

When the chief baker saw that the interpretation was favorable, he said to Joseph, “I also had a dream: there were three cake baskets on my head, and in the uppermost basket there were all sorts of baked food for Pharaoh, but the birds were eating it out of the basket on my head.” Genesis 40:16-17

Symbolic Interpretation Within a Dream

Sometimes the Lord will reveal the symbolic meaning of a dream within the dream itself. Multiple chapters within Zechariah consist of the Lord speaking symbolically in a dream and then revealing the interpretation:

“I saw in the night, … And I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold, four horns! And I said to the angel who talked with me, “What are these?” And he said to me, “These are the horns that have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem.”Then the Lord showed me four craftsmen. And I said, “What are these coming to do?” He said, “These are the horns that scattered Judah, so that no one raised his head. And these have come to terrify them, to cast down the horns of the nations who lifted up their horns against the land of Judah to scatter it.” Zechariah 1:8,18-21

The Lord shows Jacob a ladder and tells him what it means:

And [Jacob] dreamed, and behold, there was a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven. And behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it! And behold, the Lord stood above it and said, “I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac. The land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring.” Genesis 28:12-13

Direct Language Dreams

Sometimes the Lord will speak directly in a dream. The Lord tells Nathan that Solomon is to build the temple, not David:

But that same night the word of the Lord came to Nathan, “Go and tell my servant David, ‘Thus says the Lord: It is not you who will build me a house to dwell in.  … When your days are fulfilled to walk with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, one of your own sons, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for me, and I will establish his throne forever.’ “ 1 Chronicles 17:3-4,11-12

The Lord spoke to Paul in a dream:

And the Lord said to Paul one night in a vision, “Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent, for I am with you, and no one will attack you to harm you, for I have many in this city who are my people.” Acts 18:9-10

Joseph (father of Jesus) is told to flee to Egypt:

Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.” Matthew 2:13

Communicating with the Lord in a Dream

People in the Bible are seen communicating with the Lord or an angel in dreams. Solomon asks for wisdom in a dream:

At Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night, and God said, “Ask what I shall give you.” And Solomon said, … “Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, that I may discern between good and evil, for who is able to govern this your great people?”1 Kings 3:5-6,9

Abimelech is warned by the Lord and has a conversation with Him in a dream:

But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night and said to him, “Behold, you are a dead man because of the woman whom you have taken, for she is a man’s wife.”Now Abimelech had not approached her. So he said, “Lord, will you kill an innocent people? Did he not himself say to me, ‘She is my sister’? And she herself said, ‘He is my brother.’ In the integrity of my heart and the innocence of my hands I have done this.” Then God said to him in the dream, “Yes, I know that you have done this in the integrity of your heart, and it was I who kept you from sinning against me. Therefore I did not let you touch her. Genesis 20:3-6

How common are dreams?

A list of the dreams in the Bible:

Possible or probable dreams, sometimes described as visions in the night:

  • Jacob dreams to travel to Egypt: Genesis 46:2
  • Nathan the prophet receives that Solomon would build the temple: 1 Chronicles 17:3
  • Daniel receives the interpretation to Nebuchadnezzar’s first dream: Daniel 2:19
  • Daniel’s vision of the Son of Man: Daniel 7:13
  • Paul’s vision to travel to Macedonia: Acts 16:9
  • Paul’s vision to be bold in preaching in Corinth: Acts 18:9

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