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Supernatural Biblical Guidance 5
Understanding
Holy Spirit Inspired Dreams & Guidance
by
Pastor John Hamel
“And it shall come
to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your
sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams,
your young men shall see visions: And also upon the servants and upon
the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit.” (Joel 2:28,29)
We are talking
about the Holy Spirit and supernatural guidance. We have continued to
see that the inner witness
or the inner perception of the Holy Spirit is the primary way He guides us
after the written Word of God. The inner witness of the Holy Spirit
is followed by His inward still small voice and after that His actual,
audible, more authoritative voice.
In this lesson we
are going to move into another form of supernatural Biblical
guidance. We will study supernatural dreams and guidance. In
our next lesson we will study supernatural visions and guidance, followed by
supernatural prophecy and
guidance.
Here
on Cape Cod in Massachusetts where I live and minister we have a
problem. Amongst many believers and Pastors it is very popular to put
far too much emphasis on psychologically based "Holy Spirit
inspired" dream "interpretation" which does not line up with
the Bible. Many have allowed themselves to be misled by the wrong
teachings of one very popular "Christian Dream Teacher" who
wrongly interprets dreams according to colors, shapes, numbers, symbols,
etc.
They seem to be duped by the fact that he has appeared on many popular
Christian television programs. Well, there are many things on Christian
television networks that do not line up with Scripture.
Christian television
stations have tremendous overhead and are often times more concerned with
booking half hour segments at $6000 per hour than they are with monitoring
doctrinal content. This is why the Apostle Paul instructs all Pastors to
"Study and show yourself approved of God." (2 Timothy 2:15)
Pastors who allow others to do their studying for them always end up in a
ditch.
One
Pastor in our area has been so misled by this "Dream Teacher" he
actually advertised where his congregation was to hold a church party on a
local Village Green. There was to be "...drama, dance, games,
food, face painting and dream interpretation." This leads to big
deception and big spiritual messes which are left to enlightened Pastors to
clean up and correct within the community. Imagine - face painting and
dream interpretation for the children! I would not allow my child to
come within one mile of that "church" party!
The Prophet Joel in
our text declared that in the last days there would be an increase of
dreams, visions and prophecies. Many Believers are afraid of these
types of supernatural guidance because of the errors of folks like those
mentioned above. They are afraid of being misled by counterfeits and
rightfully so. Although dreams, visions and prophecies must be tested
according to the Word of God, they should never be rejected. Once we
educate ourselves Biblically we will have no need to fear dreams, visions
and prophecies. Although they are not the primary way the Holy Spirit
leads, they are Biblical and we can find the balance.
The Holy Spirit has
led the people of God through dreams, visions and prophecies throughout
human history. We are on the threshold of an increase of this type of
guidance according to the Prophet Joel. Therefore, we must purposely
study the Bible to acquire a better understanding of dreams, visions and
prophecies. Dreams are not just “mental debris” as some people
insist. Others insist that God does not use this type of guidance any
longer. Then there are those who desire to have their total existence
directed by nothing but dreams, visions and prophecies. Satan has
destroyed many good Ministries because of their wrong opinions of dreams,
visions and prophecies.
One such popular
Ministry, mentioned above, has deceived many, particularly our youth.
This deceived individual and his trained "Teachers"
and "Prophets" travel from
Church to Church teaching “Dream Seminars” on how to interpret dreams
through the use of colors, letters, numbers, objects, events, etc.
However, this type of teaching is unbiblical, man-inspired, not God-inspired and
renders nothing but confusion amongst those who are ignorant of true,
Biblical, New Testament forms of guidance. Yet, many Pastors choose
this popular error over the Word of God just because it will draw a small
crowd and raise a few dollars. (...and and a few eyebrows, as well!). We will find the balance
in these studies and we will be blessed as opposed to deceived.
Dreams Defined
Webster’s
dictionary defines “dreams” as “having ideas or images in the mind during
the state of sleep; in Scripture dreams were sometimes impressions on the
minds of sleeping persons by Divine agency.”
You will notice
that this definition of dreams correctly states that dreams only occur
while a person is sleeping. Visions occur while a person is
awake. We will go into visions in our next lesson.
In the Old
Testament, prior to the Holy Spirit indwelling man, dreams were frequently
used to speak to human beings. In the New Testament, because of the
Holy Spirit’s indwelling presence, visions are more common than
dreams. But again, Joel did say that dreams would occur more
frequently in the last days.
Keep in mind, not
all dreams are of God. It is possible to experience unscriptural,
confusing dreams as a result of wrongly eating or drinking before sleeping.
(Isaiah 29:8) When a dream is of the Holy Spirit, He will make any
necessary interpretation available to you. He will make it
clear. If He does not directly make it clear to you, He will have
someone in your immediate periphery that He knows can help you with
it. Also, when a dream is of the Holy Spirit it will be
Scriptural. This is why it is so important for every Believer who
desires to be led supernaturally to have a solid understanding of God’s
Word. The unbiblical, dream-interpreting Ministry referred to above
profits only because of the Scriptural ignorance of the baby Believers it
preys upon.
Three Categories of Dreams
Basically there are
three categories of dreams, although, like the Gifts of the Spirit, dream categories can
overlap one another. We have used the illustration of the colors of
the rainbow at times when describing the Gifts and operations of the Holy
Spirit. With a rainbow it is often hard to tell where one color stops
and another begins. So it is with the three categories of
dreams. They can often overlap and it is hard to define which of the
three you are experiencing. However, we do our best to separate them
for teaching purposes.
Whenever someone
dreams any of the three categories of dreams, it is a manifestation of the Word of Wisdom, the Word of Knowledge or the Discerning of Spirits.
Dreams of Guidance
Solomon dreamed a
dream of guidance. Many realize that Solomon asked God for wisdom to
rule his kingdom. Because he asked for something to bless others, God gave him tremendous material wealth as well.
However, not many people realize that all of this occurred in a dream.
(1Kings 3:3-15)
Joseph, the husband
of Mary, dreamed a dream of guidance. (Matthew 2:13) Joseph was
guided by an Angel in this
dream to take Jesus into Egypt, saving His life
from Herod. His dream resulted in the safekeeping of the world’s
Messiah and our salvation. We will see that Joseph actually dreamed
all three types of dreams. The Magi / Wise Men dreamed a dream of
guidance. The Holy Spirit showed them not to go back and tell Herod
where Jesus was. (Matthew 2:12)
I myself have had
manifestations of this type of dream. I once racked my brains
concerning a personal need. I finally gave up in frustration not
being able to come up with a solution. The Holy Spirit showed me in a
dream a man to go to and what he would do for me. It came to pass
even as the dream revealed. This is not the primary way the Holy
Spirit leads Believers and you know that by now. However, it is
Scriptural and never to be feared. We could give you other
illustrations from the Bible and personal experience but we want to save time
and space for the next categories.
Dreams of Warning
Normally the Holy
Spirit will use God’s Word to warn us of impending judgment for messing
around with sin. But He can also use dreams to the same end.
This is such a sweet way of Him correcting us privately for wrongdoing.
Abimelech was warned in a
dream that he was a dead man if he went to bed with Abraham’s wife,
Sarah. Abraham had lied to Abimelech,
telling him that Sarah was his sister. In this one dream, Abimelech and Sarah were spared from committing adultery,
Sarah was spared from moral contamination and the seed of Jesus was
preserved. (Genesis 20:1-18)
Jacob worked for
twenty years to marry Laban’s daughter. Laban continued to take advantage of him. Jacob
was finally warned in a dream that Laban was
beyond honest dealings. In the dream he was also guided to Canaan where things would
be better. (Genesis 31:10-13) Jacob took his family and possessions
and left. Laban discovered that they had
gone and set out after them. He was then warned in a dream to back
off Jacob and his family or God would personally rattle his cage. (Genesis
31:24)
Pharaoh dreamed two
warning dreams. He was being warned of seven coming years of plenty
followed by seven years of extreme famine. He was completely bowled
over and confused by these dreams. Joseph, God’s King of Dreams,
interpreted them for him. The end result was favor for Joseph with
Pharaoh, his promotion from the doghouse to the penthouse, Egypt’s introduction to
the Most High God and the entire Nation of Israel being saved from Satan’s
attempted genocide. Not bad for one night’s work, but that is just
the big God that we serve. Joseph also previously and accurately
interpreted dreams for Pharaoh’s butler and baker while in prison. (Genesis
41:1-50:26)
Nebuchadnezzar,
king of Babylon, dreamed a warning
dream that he did not understand. Daniel interpreted it for him,
explaining that he was about to come under a seven-year curse for stealing
God’s glory. It happened just as Daniel described. It wasn’t pretty,
either. (Daniel 4:1-37)
In another dream,
an Angel told Joseph, the husband of Mary, it was
safe to go back to Israel. Joseph was
warned in this dream to avoid Judea, going directly to
Galilee, because Herod’s son was now in
power. He was a baby killer, too. This dream also saved Jesus’
life, resulting in our salvation. (Matthew 2:19-23)
If the Holy Spirit
warns you of sin in a dream, it is not to condemn you. It is to help
you. (Job 33:14-18) Run to God with your sin,
never away from Him. He wants to cleanse you of all
unrighteousness. (1John 1:9)
Many times the Holy
Spirit has shown me in a dream someone dying tragically in an
accident. I have learned to ask forgiveness for the one in the dream.
I then remind the devil that he has no business in these matters, in Jesus’
Name. I then ask God for their deliverance
even as Abraham stood in the gap for Sodom and Gomorrah. This has
proven to be very effective.
An individual once
told me of dreaming that a loved one was going to die. It occurred
precisely as it did in the dream. This dear man then explained to me
that God took their loved one’s life to break a family curse.
I was shocked to think that someone would believe such unbiblical
doctrine. That is religious thinking. That is stinking
thinking. Jesus has broken every curse by laying
down His life on behalf of all sin. (Galatians 3:13,14; 1Peter 3:18) This precious individual was being
given a dream of warning so he could take authority
and stop his loved one’s premature death, in Jesus’ name. However, because
he had earlier rejected good Scriptural teaching for religious dogma, he
had no Scriptural knowledge of how God uses dreams to help people, not to
hurt people. I was able to explain this to him later. Someone
asked, “Why did God give him the dream if He knew he wouldn’t understand
what to do with it?” The answer is that God is a good God. Although God knew he wouldn’t
understand it, God knew he would learn from it. God brought me into
his life to explain it all to him from the Bible. Now he knows
exactly what to do should the Lord choose to guide
him again in this way. He also now knows that God is not the one who took his loved one prematurely.
(John 10:10)
President Abraham
Lincoln was a Born Again man who dreamed of lying in State in the White
House. He was looking down from the ceiling and saw himself lying in
a casket, having been assassinated. The Holy Spirit was warning him
to protect himself, but he, too, was lacking knowledge in this area.
“So, why did God bother?” you may be thinking. Because God is a good
God. He wants everyone who hears about it to learn from it. Our
good God did not use Abraham Lincoln solely for the emancipation of
slaves. He wants to use Abraham Lincoln for the emancipation of
people who live in ignorance of how and why He uses supernatural dreams of
guidance, warning and revelation.
If the Holy Spirit
warns you of error in a dream, correct it immediately. Ask for
forgiveness and get that mess under the Blood. God will be faithful
to restore you. (1John 1:9) If He warns you of impending tragedy,
take authority and bind it in Jesus’ Name. Tell it, “This will not happen, in Jesus’ Name.”
(Matthew 12:29; James 4:6,7)
We cannot possibly
cover all the dreams of warning that are in the Bible. I am confident
that what we have shared will help you greatly.
Dreams of Revelation
This is an area
that requires particular caution. Dreams of revelation that
contradict the written Word of God are to be rejected. The Mormons,
Moonies, Muslims, Jehovah’s Witness, false prophets such as Jeanne Dixon,
Edgar Cayce, etc., have all gotten into deep error by becoming preoccupied
with supernatural dreams and visions that completely and totally contradict
the Holy Scriptures.
The Bible says that
there is a curse of death on prophets and dreamers who turn people away
from the Most High God. (Deuteronomy 13:5)
The Apostle Paul
said that we are to reject even Angels appearing who come with revelation
that is contrary to the Bible. (Galatians 1:8,9) The Mormons, Moonies
and followers of Mohammed have all fallen victim to this particular type of
angelic deception.
Joel did say that
God will use dreams, visions and prophecies in the Last Days, but we must
demand two or three verses Scripture for every revelation. (Deuteronomy
17:6; Matthew 18:16; 2Corinthians 13:1)
The Bible is full
of supernatural dreams that reveal something. We cannot possibly
cover them all but we will look at some.
There are no
recorded instances of the Holy Spirit dealing with man through dreams
before Noah’s Flood. In the very first instance of the Holy Spirit
communicating with humanity through a dream, it was revealed to Abraham
that he would live a long, prosperous life. It was also revealed to
him that Israel would go into
captivity for four hundred years and finally come out with tremendous
abundance. (Genesis 15:12-16)
Jacob dreamed a
dream of Angels going back and forth from Heaven and Earth on a great
ladder. The Lord stood at the top of the ladder, revealing Himself to
Jacob as His Helper, Keeper and Provider. What a revelation of God’s
love nature. (Genesis 28:10-16)
It was revealed to
Joseph in a dream that one day his family would bow down to him. Sure
enough, they did. (Genesis 37:5-9; 42:6)
Nebuchadnezzar
dreamed a dream of future world empires rising and falling. Daniel’s
interpretation of that dream brought promotion to himself as well as to
Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego over all the affairs of Babylon. (Daniel
2:1-49)
Joseph,
soon-to-be-husband of Mary, dreamed a dream revealing that the Child within
Mary was conceived of the Holy Spirit. (Matthew 1:20,21) It is
amazing to me that Joseph could go back and see confirmation of his dream
in the Scripture. He could actually read where his own Prophet Isaiah
had written eight hundred years earlier that a virgin birth would occur in Judah. From here
the virgin born Messiah would rule the nations forever. (Isaiah 7:14;
8:8) This is possibly the greatest, most important and most wonderful
dream ever dreamed. So we have see how
Joseph dreamed all three types of supernatural dreams – guidance, warning
and revelation.
There will be and even is now an increase
of dreams, visions and prophecies occurring in these Last Days. We
must keep in mind that supernatural dreams of guidance, supernatural dreams
of warning and supernatural dreams of revelation are not the primary way
the Holy Spirit guides Believers. As we stay focused on the written
Word of God, the inner witness and the inward still small voice of the Holy
Spirit, we are also making ourselves available to any other form of
supernatural guidance the Holy Spirit chooses to use.
It is important to always keep in mind that
every supernatural dream is not Holy Spirit inspired. Someone once
made the statement, “Garbage in, garbage out.” That is a good thing
to keep in mind when it comes to supernatural dreams and visions. If
you spend all your time consuming secular television programming, worldly
movies, music that does not flow from the Throne of God, trashy tabloids, fear-filled
newspapers promoting death, dying and destruction, you are going to have
some really over the edge dreams that are not God-inspired. (Ecclesiastes
5:3)
Just because something is supernatural does
not mean it is Scriptural. Satan is a spirit and he loves to
masquerade around as an Angel of light. (2Corinthians 11:14) He specializes in deceiving
Believers who are ignorant of what is and what is not Scriptural.
This is how he has been able to establish the world’s cults
and non-Christian religions. The Holy Spirit is against
their counterfeit revelations based on false dreams, because they cause His
people to err by their lies. (Jeremiah 23:32)
A final word in closing: No one in
the Bible ever prayed for the Holy Spirit to speak to them through a
dream. If you do this, Satan will accommodate you. Stick with
the Word, the inner witness and the voice of conscience. God is a
very wise God. If you need more, He knows it and He will get it to
you. Trust His love!
Be blessed … John and Barbara Hamel
Examples of Dreams from the Bible
The following is a
listing of the many dreams recorded in the Bible. I am placing them
here apart from the lesson to facilitate your further study. You can
decide which type of dream each one is.
Abimelech dreamed of Sarah.
(Genesis 20:3) Jacob dreamed of Angels ascending and descending on a
ladder (actually a “ramp”). (Genesis 28:12) Jacob dreamed of ring-straked cattle. (Genesis 31:10-13) Laban was warned in a dream. (Genesis 31:24)
Joseph dreamed twice of his brethren. (Genesis 37:5-9) Pharaoh’s
chief butler dreamed of himself. (Genesis 40:5-13) Pharaoh’s chief
baker dreamed of himself. (Genesis 40:16-23) Pharaoh dreamed twice of
great famine. (Genesis 41:1-8) Jacob dreamed of going to Egypt and becoming a
great nation. (Genesis 46:2) A Midianite
dreamed of Gideon. (Judges 7:13) Solomon
received his wisdom impartation through a dream. (1Kings 3:5-15) Eliphaz, one of Job’s “tormenters”, dreamed of a spirit
passing before him. (Job 4:12-21) Job had dreams of terror. (Job 7:14) False prophets dreamed of lies.
(Jeremiah 23:27-32; 29:8,9) Nebuchadnezzar dreamed of future
kingdoms. (Daniel 2) Nebuchadnezzar dreamed of himself being humbled.
(Daniel 4) The Prophet Daniel twice dreamed of future kingdoms.
(Daniel 7 and 8) Daniel dreamed of God. (This could possibly be
a vision where Daniel was “slain in the spirit”.) (Daniel 10:5-9)
Diviners dreamed lies and false dreams. (Zechariah 10:2) Joseph
dreamed of Mary’s Holy Spirit conception. (Matthew 1:20-25) Joseph
dreamed of fleeing to Egypt with Jesus and
Mary. (Matthew 2:13-15) Joseph dreamed of returning to Israel with Jesus and
Mary. (Matthew 2:19-21) Joseph dreamed of avoiding Archelaus in Judea. (Matthew
2:22,23) The Wise Men were warned of God in a dream. (Matthew
2:12) Pilate’s wife dreamed of Jesus’ innocence. (Matthew
27:19) Paul either had a dream or a vision during the night of a man
beckoning him to come to Macedonia with the Gospel.
(Acts 16:9,10) Once again Paul either dreamed or had a vision of
Jesus encouraging and guiding him. (Acts 23:11) Again Paul
either dreamed or had a vision of an Angel encouraging and guiding him.
(Acts 27:23,24)
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