Dreams

This blog deals with dreams. It begins with a survey of all the dreams in the text. It concludes with some commentary on the dubious use of dreams as a source of prophetic inspiration.

Outline

The purpose of this blog is to ground readers to correctly understand the nature and use of dreams. The problem with dreams is overweighing them in decision making processes. Dreams should always be approached with caution because they are so fraught with problems.

My approach to this problem is to first look at all the dreams recorded in the text. For each dream we ask who had the dream, who is the hero and who is the villain. Finally, we want to ask what was the ultimate purpose for the dream. After reviewing all the dreams, I deal with the common sources of false dreams.

Abimelek's Dream, (Gen. 20, BRB)

The first dream recorded in the text is in Genesis 20. Abimelek has a dream that warns him about taking Abraham's wife Sarah. In the dream Abimelek states his innocence in this matter. In response to the dream, he returns Sarah to Abraham with a rebuke of Abraham for having been deceitful in this matter.

This dream is unclear as to hero and villain. Abimelek calls out Abraham as in the wrong, yet Abimelek and his men caused Abraham to be afraid. Abimelek is a mild villain, there is no hero. What was Joshua's ultimate purpose for this dream? To protect Abraham and Sarah.

Jacob Recounting (Gen. 31:10-13, BRB)

The next story of a dream in the text is Jacob retelling a dream. He explained how he was told by a king of god about how his herds were going to increase at the expense of Laban.

This story has serious problems because the narrator is not even claiming on narrator's authority that this dream ever happened. Instead the narrator only claims that Jacob said he had a dream. We currently mark this paragraph as not inspired because it sits out of order to the flow of the story.

Earlier, at Genesis 30:31-33, we are told the deal Jacob had with Laban over his wages. It involved how they would identify the owners of individual sheep as the produced offspring.

The modern technical terms for these patterns are called dominant and recessive genes. Jacob knew his sheep and how breeding worked. Laban knew little to nothing about this.

The actual reason that Jacob was successful in breading is because he knew what happens when sheep breed. Jacob was an expert. Laban was an absentee owner and a fool. Laban exhibits patterns we today would label as Egyptian. This is perhaps why his sister, Jacob's mother, fled the house so quickly when she was young.

So by the time we get to Jacob retelling the dream, we can reject the paragraph as uninspired. It must not be used to teach about dreams.

Laban's Dream (Gen. 31:24, BRB)

The next dream recorded in the text involves Laban. He is warned in a dream to be careful, to not say anything to Jacob, neither good nor bad. He recounts this dream a 2nd time, see Gen. 31:29.

Who is the villain? Laban, who risks harming Jacob. What was Joshua's ultimate purpose for this dream? To protect Jacob, the mild hero.

Joseph's Dreams (Gen. 37:5, 37:9, BRB)

When Joseph is 17 years old he brought a report to Jacob about the evil behaviors of his older brothers. Technically they were his uncles. His honesty would commend him to Jacob, but would cause them to hate Joseph and be unable to speak peaceably about him. This is the backdrop to Joseph's first recorded dream.

In Joseph's first dream, see Gens 37:5, all the brothers are binding sheaves, but Joseph's sheaf rose above the other sheaves, those other sheaves bowed down to Joseph's.

Joseph's brothers get the interpretation easy enough, they cannot believe this is prophetic for Joseph eventually ruling over them. They hate Joseph even more for his dreams and words.

At this point we only know of 1 dream, but the text is saying there have been others unreported in the text. His brothers also hate him for opening his mouth and speaking his testimony.

The text continues and we read about another dream, see Gen. 37:9. Here the sun and moon and 11 stars bow down to Joseph.

Joseph's father Jacob rebukes him over this dream. Jacob has trouble with the idea that the entire family would end up under Joseph. The brothers now turn their hatred of Joseph to envy.

Jacob, though, had already realized Joseph was going to be heir to the vault, this is why he had earlier prepared a special robe. This had contributed to the other brother's troubles with Joseph. Now Jacob starts to realize this son Joseph is becoming a prophet, this is why Jacob preserves the saying, see Gen. 37:11.

I have heard many a sermon and many bible studies on this. Most come down against Joseph at this point. I have always disagreed. The story already has enough evidence that the brothers have been judged because of their disrespect of Jacob, therefore of authority, therefore of Joshua god.

If Joseph were to hide these dreams from his brothers he would be doing the same deceitful game as them. This is what makes Joseph different from his brothers. This is what makes Joseph qualified to his later life call.

Who is the hero? Joseph. Who are the villains? Joseph's brothers. What purpose was served by Joshua giving Joseph these dreams?

The purposes are complex. They reveal the villainous nature of Joseph's brothers. That nature will cause Joseph to be sent to Egypt as a prisoner. Joseph will remember these dreams later, and provide for the family rather than reject them. Joshua's ultimate purpose for these dreams was the saving of many lives. A secondary purpose was to explain why Joseph became heir to the scroll vault.

Prisoners Dreams (Gen. 40:5-18, BRB)

The next dream references are really a pair of dreams. Here 2 of Pharaoh's officials encounter Joseph while they are all in prison.

Each of Pharaoh's officials have dreams. Neither can interpret the dreams. Joseph helps out and fills in the details. Both dreams are true, one man is restored to his position, the other is hanged.

Who is the hero? Joseph, a later walk-off king. Who are the villains? Ultimately Pharaoh. The officials are caught in Pharaoh's house politics, and are victims of Pharaoh.

What was Joshua's ultimate purpose for these dreams? The dreams themselves had no immediate application in the lives of either official. Nothing about the dreams changed their life arcs. These dreams gave Joseph credibility with the surviving official so that Joseph would have access to Pharaoh. That access would later save many lives.

Pharaoh's Dream (Gen. 41:1-8, BRB)

In this dream, or pair of dreams, Pharaoh sees cows and ears of grain, 7 good, and then 7 bad.

Pharaoh could not interpret, and the surviving official from the previous story brings in Joseph who can interpret the dream.

Who is the hero? Joseph. Who is the villain? Pharaoh. What was Joshua's ultimate purpose? The saving of many lives.

The Soldier's Dream (Judges 7:13, BRB)

In this dream story, Gideon overhears a soldier in the other army retelling a dream. In that retelling Gideon was said to be successful in the war. Gideon uses that to be encouraged and then goes to war, where he is successful.

We currently mark this as uninspired, it is in a suspect passage. The structural problem is that Gideon can hear Joshua's voice clear enough. There is plenty of green text in the verses ahead of this dream.

In any case, who is the hero? Gideon, but only once encouraged by the dream. The villain? The king of the other army. What was Joshua's ultimate purpose? The rescue of the heirs of Jacob from foreign oppression.

Solomon's Dream (1 Kings 3:10-15, BRB)

In this dream Joshua is said to be speaking to Solomon personally about various points. This passage has many clues that it is not inspired. First problem is finding a witness to the content of the dream. The narrator, who introduces the dream, is not himself a witness to the dream. Nor is this a record by Solomon of the contents of his dream. We will see the correct pattern of attribution soon with Nebuchadnezzar.

Solomon is also an editor and so one of the 6 most historically significant villains. There is no hero. So we reject this dream as being uninspired.

Nebuchadnezzar's Statue Dream (Daniel 2:1-48, BRB)

In this dream Nebuchadnezzar has a dream about a statue. The written account is far more complicated because he insists that someone both tell him the dream and then tell the interpretation. This strange structure was used so he would have proof that the interpretation was correct.

Daniel will do what the king asks. He then includes the entire account within his own Book of Daniel.

Who is the hero? Daniel. Who is the villain? Nebuchadnezzar.

What was Joshua's ultimate purpose for this dream? Similar to Joseph, the dream provides Daniel more access to the king and more authority within that kingdom. It also provides a section in inspired scripture that gives a parable for the flow of document history that begins with Nebuchadnezzar. That history is still ongoing, the rock has not yet struck the feet of that statue.

Like the dreams of pharaoh's officials, this dream does not matter to the man having the dream. The record of the dream stands as witness to the trouble caused by Nebuchadnezzar for the centuries that will follow.

Nebuchadnezzar's Tree Dream (Daniel 4:1-37, BRB)

In this second recorded dream of Nebuchadnezzar, he has a dream about a cut down tree. This written account is also complicated because it was recorded in some sort of official account from the king which is then included in the Book of Daniel.

The entire passage includes an introduction, then the dream, then Daniel's interpretation, then an account of the fulfillment, and then some closing comments.

This dream importantly includes 4 references to time. '7 seasons' in Daniel 4:16, 'an hour' in Daniel 4:19, then '7 seasons' twice again in Daniel 4:23 and Daniel 4:25.

This dream is built upon the '7 times' references in Leviticus 26, and marks a 2550 year prophetic future still also in play in world history. So this is locked into some of the most fundamental stories of the entire text.

Who is the hero? If anyone, then Daniel. Who is the villain? Nebuchadnezzar.

What was Joshua's ultimate purpose for this dream? To indicate to readers of the Book of Daniel that some of the 7 times intervals from Leviticus 26 began in Nebuchadnezzar's day.

This is also like those of pharaoh's officials and pharaoh. This dream's main purposes are not related to even the era of the dreamer.

Daniel's Night Vision (Daniel 7:2-28)

This particular passage is called a dream in narrator's voice, but in the written account it is called a 'night vision.'

These subtle changes in vocabulary are not to be overlooked. This is NOT simply a dream, otherwise it would consistently be called a dream.

There is important meaning to this being called a 'night vision' instead of a dream. The entire account is a parable for what takes place across a very long time of darkness.

If there has been editing, the introduction in vs. 1 has been added. There is enough of an introduction in vs. 2 to suffice. In either the edited, or unedited scenarios we are dealing with a night vision, not a typical dream.

There are no clear heros nor villains in this story. At the close Daniel writes that he simply kept the matter to himself, see Dan. 7:28.

What was Joshua's ultimate purpose for this night vision?

Nebuchadnezzar's earlier dreams appear to get an additional prophetic overlay in this night vision. Daniel had been asked in both cases to interpret the king's dream. He did so in a way that Nebuchadnezzar could personally understand. This night vision appears to be the real interpretation of both of Nebuchadnezzar's earlier dreams.

The 4 great animals are likely the 4 stages down in the statue dream. I have explained them previously as the 4 final editors beginning with Nebuchadnezzar himself.

This vision then speaks to the opening of the scrolls, see Dan. 7:10. This agrees with the idea that the entire vision is about the editing history of the text itself. The literary purpose of the entire book of Daniel is about language.

At the end of the series of blogs on Revelation, I suggested that the recovery of more volumes happens in our general time in history. The 7 times of Leviticus also comes to a general close at our time in history. So the 2 earlier dreams are both pointing to our era, as does this night vision.

So Joshua's purpose for these dream accounts in the Book of Daniel is to explain the flow of history until the '7 times' of Leviticus 26 is finally up. Anyone who knows the text's timeline needs to know this.

Joseph's Dream About Mariam (Matthew 1:20-21, BRB)

Joseph had a dream dealing with his pregnant wife Mariam. Joseph had considered divorcing her because this was not his child. In the dream he is told to not be afraid to take her as a wife. He is then told some details about the child, including his name.

Who is the hero? Mariam is the woman of faith in a situation that looks very bad to her. Who is the villain? Joseph would have caused Mariam and baby Joshua much trouble if he had divorced her.

What was Joshua's ultimate purpose in this dream? To make sure that baby Joshua had 2 parents, and thus the father's protection and provision that he would need especially early in life.

Note something important here, Joseph is not being told what to do in a direct voice. Of the 4 parents of the 2 miracle births, Joseph is not a particularly faithful man. Use of a dream for this word suggests Joseph's spiritual condition.

Magi Dream (Matthew 2:12, BRB)

The magi had come to see the birth of baby Joshua. They had come from the east. But they apparently went to Jerusalem as their default destination. (Many in the church world do the same now, but I digress.)

By visiting Jerusalem first, they trigger Herod's awareness of this birth. They eventually do find the birth place, but then in vs. 12 are told in a dream to not return to Herod. They return home by another route.

Who is the hero? Magi are marking the occasion by their long distance journey. Who is the villain? Herod. What was Joshua's ultimate purpose for this dream? To protect baby Joshua from harm from Herod.

Joseph's 2nd Dream (Matthew 2:13, BRB)

This dream of Joseph follows immediately on the heals of the Magi dream discussed above. Joseph is told that he must take the boy and his mother and escape to Egypt.

Who is the hero? Joseph, for doing what he was told. Who is the villain? Herod, who wants to kill the boy. What was Joshua's ultimate purpose for this dream? To protect baby Joshua from harm from Herod.

Joseph's 3rd Dream (Matthew 2:19, BRB)

This 3rd dream of Joseph happens after the death of Herod when the family is living in Egypt. In the dream Joseph is told it is safe to return because those who were seeking the life of the boy Joshua were now dead.

Who is the hero? Joseph, for doing what he was told. Who is the villain? Herod and his friends, now dead. What was Joshua's ultimate purpose for this dream? To get the boy Joshua back to the correct territory where he would grow up. Presumably Joseph would have just stayed in Egypt without this dream.

Joseph's 4th Dream (Matthew 2:22, BRB)

In this final dream of Joseph, he has arrived back in Canaan. He is now told in a dream to go to Galilee, where he eventually settled in Nazareth.

Who is the hero? Joseph, again, for doing what he was told. Who is the villain? Joseph, for risking living in the wrong place. What was Joshua's ultimate purpose for this dream? To get the family to the right place for Joshua to grow up.

Pilate's Wife's Dream (Matthew 27:19, BRB)

When Pilate was judging Joshua, his wife sent word to him to have nothing to do with Joshua. Her reason is that she has suffered a great deal in a dream because of him.

Presumably Pilate will have enough trouble over this trial to impact his home life in some way. We are not told the exact details of her dream. Those details were apparently not even divulged to Pilate himself.

Who is the hero? Pilate's wife. Who is the villain? Pilate. What was Joshua's ultimate purpose for this dream? To tell Pilate that there would be consequences to himself personally, and his wife, if he agreed to the priest's will to crucify Joshua.

Joel and Acts Commentary On Dreams

The text includes 2 places where there is commentary of some sort on dreams themselves. The first of these is in Joel 2:28. In that passage dreams are attributed to Joshua's spirit being poured out. Joel states that because of this the elders will dream dreams. This is quoted again in Acts 2:17, where old men are said to have dreams.

Both of these are suspect because of several issues. The inspired text usually teaches by example, not by abstraction. So if at any time when the spirit was poured out, say after the Exodus, we should find old men with dreams who are called out as an example. We do not find that in either the NT nor OT.

Instead what we have are very many people across all of the time recorded in the text where they are hearing Joshua's voice directly. This is the highest form of walk with Joshua that we should all strive to reach.

By the way, faking prophetic words is hard around those who do hear his voice. Fake prophetic of any type is called 'taking Joshua's name in vain.'

Purposes Of Dreams

It should be obvious from my enumeration of the dreams found in the text that nearly all prophetic dreams have a purpose that is not exactly congruent with the interests of the person who has the dream. The dreamer is being asked to help or warn or protect some other person or people.

These are usually warnings to the dreamer about things NOT to do. Don't take Sarah, for example. In young Joseph's case the series of dreams were warnings to his brothers not to mess with Joseph.

In Joseph of Nazareth's case, the dreams were all given go keep the family safe from evil kings. Generally speaking they were telling Joseph where to go in order for that bigger purpose to happen.

Sometimes they explain things in the world around us. Nebuchadnezzar's dreams still run this way and inform us many centuries later. We can imagine dreams that do this personally too.

The only real prophetic person with clear dreams was Joseph, and then only as a 17 year old young man. He will not need dreams later in life. None of the writers explain what they wrote as being from a dream. This is in part why Daniel's night vision is probably not a dream.

Many dreams have a time-capsule like quality. Joseph's dreams came back importantly later. So too did the dreams of Pharaoh's officials. So too with Nebuchadnezzar's dreams. Dreams should be written down, dated, and kept for future reference.

Unclean Food (Leviticus 11, BRB)

There are several places in the food laws that speak of foods that are unclean. If you are interested, a section like this starts at Leviticus 11.

There are 2 different reasons for avoiding unclean foods. In modern vocabulary, some of these foods are genetically closely related to humans.

This means eating these foods will cause auto-immune disorders. These are very hard to treat diseases where our own immune systems start attacking our own bodies. This because someone's immune system was trained to attack genetically similar food particles loose in our bodies.

The other reason for avoiding unclean food is mentioned starting in Lev. 11:24. Here the issue is now touching the carcasses of unclean animals. Now the problem is described as becoming 'unclean until evening.'

What happens at evening that the text is warning about? Dreams.

Sources Of Dreams

Unclean foods cause strange dreams, dreams that are NOT inspired by Joshua. Generally speaking these dreams are from dead material of some sort. This includes things that grow in dead material, like mushrooms and fungus. Dead materials include all petroleum byproducts and the interesting stuff in many cheeses.

As some readers know I am a careful diary keeper. My older diaries are filled with dream accounts that had no particular application, and no prophetic witness even the next morning. Once we started controlling diet to avoid unclean foods these dreams essentially went away.

The few dreams that remain tend to be narrowly focused, either on solutions to tough technical problems, or related to future travels.

We cannot always control our diet, so there are still dreams which have no prophetic witness. This is a problem with the American diet generally. We would need to eat out of our kitchen always in order to avoid all strange dreams.

Questions To Ask

This has some very real applications for anyone with a dream. The questions to ask the next morning after all dreams are these:

Did you eat unclean food by textual definition?

Did you drink any fermented or sweetened drink? (Wine, Cola, Juice?)

Did you eat food prepared in any commercial kitchen? Say a restaurant or cafeteria?

Did you eat anything prepackaged, or otherwise not from scratch while in your own kitchen? This is commonly uncooked doughs or processed meat, like hot dogs?

If you answer yes, or I don't know, to any of these types of questions then you need to be very careful.

Confirmed Dreams

After having a dream that does not fail by any of these rules, then consider that it might be prophetic. In prayer, ask Joshua to confirm the dream.

Sometimes the content of the dream will point to the confirmation. Numbers, for example, can be run as lots which should confirm the dream. Dreams can reveal secrets that can be verified which then confirm the dream.

Don't tell dreams to other people and then look to them for confirmation. Other people would need to call out something unknown to them that you saw in the dream before they would be providing confirmation.

If you have practice, use lots. But, please don't use lots for decision making without a long history of using lots educationally and/or devotionally.

May you be blessed in your dreams, may you have true and prophetic dreams to help you help those around you to save lives and advance Joshua's kingdom.

More Later,

Phil