How Should We Interpret Dreams? - Ask Pastor Tim

Okay.

From Marvin,

"Over the past year or so,

I've been experiencing very weird dreams.

I've seen angelic figures

and demonic ones as well.

I can hardly understand it.

Lately, I've seen very large snakes

in my dreams too.

What's your say on these?

Should I be worried?

Am I getting some sort of message

from the supernatural world?

What exactly is this

and what should I do besides pray?"

Now, this one almost seems like

maybe we should just deal with Marvin

as to where he's at spiritually.

And I wouldn't argue with that,

but because the subject is dreams,

and I know that in the church realm,

dreams come up.

People talk about dreams

and people have dreams.

I've been asked or I've heard

somebody say that
they had a certain dream.

There are people in our church

that will talk about dreams.

And so let's just think scripturally.

Does God ever give a dream?

It's from Him - not satanic,

it's God giving the dream

because God means to communicate

something to an individual.

Does that ever happen?

Old Testament?

Old Testament and New Testament?

Okay.

So all through the Bible,

we can find examples of God giving dreams.

It's a God-given dream

that communicates some kind of prophecy,

some kind of warning,

some kind of message.

Give me some examples.

Good - by good,

I don't mean that when interpreted

it actually sounded like great news,

but they're good in the sense

that they're God-given.

Give me some examples.

Old and New.

(unintelligible)

Pharaoh.

Joseph interpreted for him.

Yes, you had the cows,

you had the corn stalks or wheat stalks,

seven years, seven years.

There's two Joseph's actually

in the Bible that were pretty prominent

with dreams.

You had Joseph in the Old Testament

and Joseph the husband of Mary

in the New Testament.

Very often, the Joseph
in the New Testament

was receiving dreams
concerning what he should do

as far as escaping Herod

by going down to Egypt,

when to come back,

even taking Mary for his wife.

God was very consistently speaking

to Joseph the husband of Mary

by way of dreams.

Can anybody think of any other place

in the Old Testament

where dreams are fairly significant?

(unintelligible)

Jacob's ladder actually is a dream.

And it says so specifically.

Somebody said Daniel.

Daniel was interpreting.

He interpreted two dreams
for Nebuchadnezzar.

Can you think of any other dreams?

You were talking about Jacob.

Whoever mentioned Jacob,

I don't know if that was exactly

talking about Jacob's ladder.

You know he had another dream.

He had a dream about you remember

when he made the deal with Laban

that he would only take the striped

and the spotted and the
mottled sheep and goats?

And God actually gave him a dream.

And maybe that's how he knew
that he should choose those.

But you remember what he did.

He took those sticks

and he put stripes in them

and he kind of held them up.

But other dreams -
can you think of others?

What's that?

(unintelligible)

God said don't say
anything to him good or bad.

Don't do any harm to him.

Abimelech - do you remember
the guy Abimelech?

He was like a Philistine king

and he had taken Sarah.

And he had a dream

that said you're a dead man.

And he said, "Lord, I did this

in the innocence of my heart."

And he had another dream
and God came to him

and said, "I know you did."

Anyway, okay, good dreams.

Yes, there are God-given dreams.

There are good dreams.

Can you think of anywhere else

in the New Testament specifically,

maybe not where you have
specific examples of dreams,

but where dreams
themselves are talked about

in a good way?

(unintelligible)

Pentecost.

Basically, the fulfillment of Joel 2.

Who is going to dream dreams?

(from the room) young men?

The who?

Doesn't it say the old men?

James: The old men shall dream dreams.

Tim: Yeah, the old men are
going to dream dreams.

So, that's good.

The Spirit moves - good dreams.

How about examples of bad dreams?

And by bad dreams, I mean people

that refer to their dreams

as having come from God,

but the reality is they
don't come from God,

and the only reason they're saying

that they had dreams from God

is so they can set forth their lies.

(unintelligible)

(from the room)

When Job's first friend
is talking to him...

(unintelligible)

Tim: (incomplete thought)

I think that that is not
necessarily a dream.

I think that may be something demonic.

(unintelligible)

Yeah, I'm not sure that's a dream.

(unintelligible)

Jude.

(from the room)

These people were false prophets.

It gives a long description,

but it says they're
relying on their dreams.

Tim: They're relying on their dreams.

Right.

Can you think of some place

that talks about them relying

on their visions?

(from the room)

Like when that man went to go confront

King Jeroboam.

(unintelligible)

He preached against it

and God said go back the way you came.

The old prophet said an angel told me

that you can come back with me.

Tim: Well, I don't think
that's a good example

because he just basically made it up

(incomplete thought).

But I mean in the New Testament,

is there some place you can think of

where it talks about relying on visions?

Being associated with false religion.

(from the room): Revelation, right?

Tim: I'm thinking
specifically of Colossians.

(unintelligible)

But okay, let's look at something here.

Deuteronomy 13.

Let's all go here.

Fifth book in the Bible.

Deuteronomy 13:1,

"If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams

arises among you and gives you

a sign or a wonder..."

So, here's the thing.

God Himself is actually saying,

when He says dreamer of dreams,

you know what's interesting about this?

Is He's not saying somebody

that simply claims to have had a dream.

He's actually saying a dreamer of dreams.

My point here is this,

you can actually have a dream

and be able to do some supernatural things

and it not be from God.

"He does a sign or a wonder

that he tells you comes to pass,

and if he says 'let
us go after other gods,'

which you have not known,

'and let us serve them,'

you shall not listen to the words

of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams,

for the Lord your God is testing you

to know whether you love the Lord your God

with all your heart, with all your soul."

So you see that reality.

Go to Jeremiah 23.

Jeremiah deals with
this fairly extensively.

Jeremiah 23.

Go down to verse 25.

I like this because notice

the direct comparison between dreams

and the Word of God.

Really today, that's
what we're dealing with.

People can talk about their dreams,

but it's the Word of God that is firm.

And in fact, it's the Word of God

whereby those dreams

need to be tested

and the fruit of the individual

claiming to have the dream

is to be tested.

If you go to 23:25,

"I have heard what the prophets have said

who prophesy lies in my name

saying 'I have dreamed, I have dreamed.'"

These guys are just liars.

"How long shall there be lies

in the hearts of the prophets

who prophesy lies and who prophesy

the deceit of their own heart,

who think to make My people forget My name

by their dreams that they tell one another

even as their fathers
forgot My name for Baal?"

"Let the prophet who has a dream

tell the dream.

But let him who has My Word,

speak My Word faithfully."

Isn't that interesting?
There's the comparison.

"What has straw in common with wheat?"

It's like the difference between

the dreamer and the man that has His Word.

Verse 29, "Is not My Word like fire

declares the Lord, and like a hammer

that breaks the rock in pieces?"

Go down to v. 32,

"Behold, I am against those who prophesy

lying dreams declares the Lord,

and who tell them and
lead My people astray

by their lies and their recklessness

that I did not send them or charge them

so they do not profit this people at all

declares the Lord."

Now, Kevin referenced the text in Jude,

so I think maybe we'll finish on this one

here in Jude,

because I want to make some points.

Jude. Right before Revelation.

In verse 5,

"I want to remind you

although you once fully knew it,

that Jesus who saved a people

out of the land of Egypt
afterward destroyed

those who did not believe.

The angels who did not stay within

their own position of authority,

but left their proper dwelling,

He has kept in eternal chains

under gloomy darkness

until the judgment of the great day."

So he's talking about judgment here

and those who have
come under His judgment.

"Just as Sodom and Gomorrah

and the surrounding cities

which likewise indulged
in sexual immorality

and pursued unnatural desires

serve as an example..."

An example to who? To us.

"By undergoing a
punishment of eternal fire."

Look, sexual immorality -
this is an example to us

of what God will do to us

if we are involved in sexual immorality.

"Yet in like manner (notice this)...

in like manner..."

These people are like Sodom and Gomorrah.

"In like manner, these people also

relying on their dreams,

they defile the flesh, reject authority,

blaspheme the glorious ones."

And I got to thinking about this

that Marvin - he's experiencing dreams.

I think what I would ask

a young man like this

is Jude is making a connection

between the people

who rely on their dreams

and he's talking about Sodom and Gomorrah

who's an example.

And then he says "in like manner,

these people also
relying on their dreams..."

It's like he's weaving this together.

A despising of authority

and sexual immorality

and relying on dreams

and defiling the flesh.

He's weaving this together -

these people.

And he says in v. 10,

"They blaspheme all
they do not understand.

They're destroyed by all that they

like unreasoning animals
understand instinctively.

Woe to them."

I can tell you this.

When you find Joseph having dreams,

what does Scripture say
about Joseph's character?

What sort of man was he?

What does Scripture say about Daniel?

What kind of man was he?

What does Scripture say

about the New Testament Joseph?

The husband of Mary.

What kind of man was he?

You know, I think you want
to tie these together.

I would ask Marvin

about the connection
with sexual immorality.

I would ask him about his purity.

See, he's wanting to talk about dreams.

"Should I be afraid?"

I would say this,

if there's sexual immorality in your life,

it's because of that the
wrath of God is coming

and that's what you ought to be afraid of.

Having a dream of snakes?

Dreams - should we put stock in dreams?

Should we guide our lives by dreams?

I think you want to be
very careful of dreams.

Could God speak to a person through them?

There's biblical examples,

but I'll tell you this,

just as much as there's biblical examples

of God-given dreams

directing righteous men,

there's also a lot of warnings

concerning rotten people

and false prophets and evil people

that have dreams, rely on dreams,

want to talk about their dreams.

Dreams - where can they come from?

I mean, some people will tell you

if they eat right before they go to bed,

they have all sorts of horrible dreams

or crazy dreams.

That could be one thing.

There could be natural
causes as to why you dream.

We're dreaming all the time,

but why sometimes we
remember more dreams,

maybe it's got to do with
whether we're in deep sleep

or not so deep sleep.

Could some dreams come
from satanic causes?

Undoubtedly.

Could you have dreams about snakes?

If you sat and watched a movie

like one of these cannibal movies

or zombie movies or something,

would you think it might
affect your dreams?

You know, just an illicit lifestyle

could affect your dreams.

What you read or think about

or watch right before you go to bed

may have a tremendous effect.

I think the thing to ask

with regards to these things

is looking at the lifestyle.

I think the question is

concerning a young man and his life.

Whether you're saved or not

is the real issue.

Not: should I be afraid

because I have a dream about snakes?

Well, the truth is I should be afraid

if I'm lost.

I should fear Him who can throw

body and soul into hell.

That's what I should fear.

I mean, if I'm a Christian,

and I have some crazy dream about snakes

and it's a nightmare, I'm safe.

If I'm lost and I have
dreams about angels -

when I was lost, I had a dream about Mary.

Very comforting.

I have a feeling that had
devilishness about it.

It gave me such thoughts
of Mary that I never had -

I was a nominal Catholic my whole life,

but it gave me such thoughts about Mary

that were warm.

I felt something from that.

But you know, you can have

all sorts of nice feeling dreams

and be lost and go to hell.

You could have dreams about snakes

and horrible things and go to Heaven.

The nature of the dream isn't the thing.

It's the character of the man

that's the issue.

Anything else?

Anything anybody want to say about dreams?

I would just say this,

look, if you have somebody in the church

that tells you that they had a premonition

or an impression or a vision

or a dream,

I would just say this,

be extremely careful

that you not let somebody else's dream -

here's one of the problems that I have.

If God wants to communicate to me

to take my son down to Egypt,

I don't think He's going
to give you a dream

about me taking my son down to Egypt.

He's going to give me a dream

warning me that Herod
wants to kill my child

and so I should take him down to Egypt.

I get very suspicious

when you get third person people

telling me they had a dream

that I'm supposed to marry so-and-so.

I would be extremely suspect

of that kind of thing.

Don't put weight in it.

You will go wrong.

What you want to put weight in

is in the Word of God.

You go to Proverbs 31.

Study it out.

Look at the character of a woman.

Use that as your reference point.

Just be very careful

because there are people

who even in good churches,

people who will say:

I had this dream.

It was about you.

It's almost like there's
some meaning here.

There's something you're supposed to know

that's going to affect decisions
you make in your life.

(incomplete thought)

Your antennas ought to go up

and red flags ought to be waving all over

when people tell you that.

What time do we have?

Okay, we've got time for one more.

Anybody want to say
anything about dreams?

(from the room)

(unintelligible)

Matthew 24:24 -

it says, "For there shall
arise false christs

and false prophets

and shall show great signs and wonders,

so much that if it were possible,

they shall deceive the very elect."

Tim: Right.

If possible, they would
deceive the very elect.

But it's not possible for
the elect to be deceived.

At least, not deceived damnably.