YOUR BIBLE OR YOUR DREAMS: WHICH IS BETTER?
In Scripture, there were some men who had God speak to them in dreams. Joseph, Daniel, Joseph the father of Jesus and Apostle Paul. In all those men, notice these very important points below:
1.) A clear message was conveyed on what to do, e.g., Joseph was clearly told, “Take the child Jesus and escape to Egypt” (Mat 2:13). The clarity of that message is what proves, at least to me, that it was indeed the Lord who spoke through that sleep encounter. That is consistent with His nature. However, when I turn around and examine our dreams today, something is not quite the same. Because, let’s be honest: today’s dreams (atleast mine) are not clear at all. It’s just flashes and mixtures of disconnected, weird events. There is no clear message that says, “Sinothi, do this tomorrow at 3pm.” This is why I am somewhat reluctant to embrace our dream revelations as a message from God. You would have to walk to Cairo to convince me otherwise.
2.) In need of an interpreter, God immediately provided interpretation. Do you know that all of Daniel’s visions and dreams were followed by immediate interpretation of their meaning? This proves that if God wants you to get a message, He will make sure that you get it. As already mentioned, He is very clear and simple in His communication. Hence you would neither run all town looking for a dream interpreter nor work your mind out trying to understand a dream if it was really from God. He will make sure that you understand what He is saying to you, as clear as possible. Therefore, any dream that is not clear and is without immediate interpretation is to be suspected before it is rejected at once. It’s not from God! It is that simple. I mean, why would the Almighty give you a dream, then leave you sweating over its meaning?
Have you noticed that those who claim to be interpreters of dreams these days do not, by any means use Scripture as their source of wisdom to interpret those dreams? From where then do dream interpreters get their wisdom? What spirit do they use?
3.) There are no New Revelations. Often the people who trust their dreams believe the Bible is somewhat outdated—definitely out of touch with reality. According to their sincere selves, dreams are more fresh and provide us with new information previously unknown to the saints. That is a problem because what about Believers who have, for 2,000 years, lived and died before they hear this other revelation from your dream? What a miss for them!? Also, since this “revelation” from your dream is critical information, should we print and add it to the back of the Bible? Why not? Do you now see the trouble we run into when we start to embrace this new revelation thing from our dreams?
4.) “The Bible doesn’t address our everyday situations”? I think this is the most compelling argument from that side. That is, if I’m stuck between marrying Melissa or Janet, dreams can give me that guidance, in real time. Something that the Bible cannot do. Fair enough, but I have to ask: how will I surely know if that message to choose Janet is from God, and not from my own subconscious wishes, or even the devil himself? Doesn’t he have the power to deceive through dreams? Why should you automatically assume and presume upon the Name of God?
That aside, I still dispute the fact that Scripture does not relate to our daily circumstances. Actually, if that is the case, then what use is it? We might as well abandon the “bible thing” altogether. But No. Scripture is sufficient for all matters pertaining to life and godliness (2 Tim 3:15-17). In fact, I wrote something about using the Bible to know God’s will for your life. If you don’t have time to check it out, take this instead: just obey the Bible, pray for wisdom, seek Godly counsel, trust God’s sovereignty and do what’s best for your life. In this instance, marry either Melissa or Janet and you will be fine, as long you followed the above principles. No need for special dreams.
5.) “It works for me”? Some say they believe and trust their dreams because it works for them. They dream things and things happen. That’s it. Okay, if you are not a Christian Believer, then it’s a free country. However, if you are one of us, then you have no right to live by your own set of rules (from your dream life), while the rest of us get to live by what the Bible says. God does not have special treatment for one Christian, while the rest get to live by different principles. If it works for you, it must work for every Believer. If you get a message from God, then that message must be applicable to the rest of God’s people. Unless the Lord Jesus is not the source of that message.
Additional Points: The accuracy of a dream (suppose you dream a yellow car and next day you saw a yellow car) is not proof that it is from God; the source and purpose of the dream, no matter how accurate, must be tested.
More so, the proof that unbelievers and witch-doctors can equally have accurate dreams and interpretations means that the demonic world also has some means of communicating through dreams, therefore, Christians can be easily deceived by such. Do you not know that some of the world’s most dangerous cults were founded after someone claimed to have had a supernatural encounter—sort of—with spiritual beings? That is a good reason for believers to stay away from trusting dreams and stick to the written Word of God, which is proven truth.
Also, Joel 2:28 does confirm that in latter times there would be dreamers. The question, however, is: would those dreams not come with a clear interpretation, as did Daniel and Joseph’s dreams? Secondly, Joel 2:28 does not give license for believers to replace the Word with dreams. Neither is it an approval for not testing private dreams with Scripture.
Finally, some dreams are simply a product of our imagination and thought processes which continue on in sleep. Therefore, never be that naive to believe every dream as a spiritual message. The wisest thing a child of God can do is to wake up every morning to read his Bible and obey it. Done.
In closing: perhaps from reading this you conclude that I am trying to discourage you from your dreams; you are very much correct. Unlike the Bible, dreams are not without mistake; they are not certain where they came from, they are not reliable enough to be true, not clear enough to be understood and they are not even God’s primal means of communication. Therefore, they are not good enough to be believed. At worst, you have every right to regard your dreams as worthless confusion. By contrast, the written Word is far more accurate, contains far more solid truth and can be very trusted and relied on. Therefore, trust your Bible, obey your Bible and teach Bible truth to others. Do that and live to me thank me later.
“I have heard what the prophets have said, who prophesy lies in My name, saying, ‘I have dreamed, I have dreamed!’ How long will this be in the heart of the prophets who prophesy lies? Indeed they are prophets of the deceit of their own heart, who try to make My people forget My name by their dreams which everyone tells his neighbor, as their fathers forgot My name for Baal. The prophet who has a dream, let him tell a dream; and he who has My word, let him speak My word faithfully. What is the chaff to the wheat? says the LORD. Is not My word like a fire? Says the LORD; and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?” Jeremiah 23:25-29
Sinothi Ncube
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