THE STORY OF JOSEPH. EPISODE 5. GENESIS CHAPTER 40: DREAMS COME TRUE (Part 2)

 

EPISODE 5: DREAMS COME TRUE (Part 2)

In our continuing study on the story of Joseph, we cannot avoid the concept and place of dreams in the entire plot. There are three sets of dreams in the story and each set has two dreams that are closely related. In total the story has six dreams that actually become the key pillars of the entire narrative. The word dream appears in about 26 verses in the NIV Bible between chapters 37 and 50. We therefore cannot overlook dreams while studying this story.

Let us remember at this point what the pertinent questions are regarding this concept and relating to this story. What do we as New Testament (NT) believers have to learn from the precise coming true of these dreams? Do we still expect God to speak to us through dreams today? What is the place of dreams for the NT believer?

To establish the proper Biblical answer to the above questions, we shall focus on a few questions to help us navigate this issue.

1. What is a dream?
2. What are the various categories of dreams we see highlighted in scripture?
3. How does the Bible portray dreams as a means of communication between God and his people?
4. How did the Old Testament (OT) people and culture view the concept of dreams?
5. How are dreams portrayed in the NT (their instances, frequency and prevalence as compared to the OT context)?
6. How is the New Testament believer supposed to interact with dreams?

Definition of a Dream :“A series of images, events and feelings that happen in your mind while you are asleep” Oxford Learner’s Dictionary

“We may not remember dreaming, but everyone is thought to dream between 3 and 6 times per night” https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/284378

 

THE BIBLE AND DREAMS

In the NIV English Bible, the word “dream(s)/dreaming/dreamer(s)/dreamed” appears in about 98 verses as follows;

All (98)

Old Testament (90)

●             Genesis (32)

●             Numbers (1)

●             Deuteronomy (3)

●             Judges (2)

●             1 Samuel (2)

●             1 Kings (2)

●             Job (4)

●             Psalm (2)

●             Ecclesiastes (2)

●             Isaiah (3)

●             Jeremiah (6)

●             Daniel (29)

●             Joel (1)

●             Zechariah (1)

New Testament (8)

●             Matthew (6)

●             Acts (1)

●             Jude (1)

(Source: BibleGateway - Keyword Search: dream-NIV)

Dreams in the Old Testament  context

From the above analysis we see that the Old Testament had a lot revolving around the issue of dreams. In fact, 92% of the instances where the word is mentioned in the New International Version are in the Old Testament! It seems that this is a concept widely explored in the Old Testament times and it would be correct to say that God used to interact and communicate with His servants through this medium.

The book of Genesis contains most of the appearances of the word in the entire Bible (32 verses), actually about a third of it. Out of those, about 26 instances are within the story of Joseph. The only other book that seems to lay much emphasis on dreams is the book of Daniel where the word appears about 29 times.

Ancient Eastern peoples, especially the Jews, held dreams in high regard; they noted them, and sought those who professed or were known to explain and/or interpret them. Dream interpreters were highly esteemed; such is witnessed in the Egyptians of Joseph’s time (Gen 40; 41). (https://www.biblegateway.com/resources/encyclopedia-of-the-Bible/Dream)

Generally, the Bible denotes dreams as to having three main categories with regard to their origins and importance;

One is as being a medium through which God communicates to his people

Numbers 12:6  Then He said, “Hear now My words: If there is a prophet among you, I, the Lord, make Myself known to him in a vision; I speak to him in a dream.

Thus, God spoke to Abimelech (Genesis 20:3), Jacob (Genesis 31:10-11), Laban (Genesis 31:24) and Solomon (1 kings 3:5).

Genesis 20:3 But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night, and said to him, “Indeed you are a dead man because of the woman whom you have taken, for she is a man’s wife.”

This is the first appearance of dreams in the Bible and here God used one to warn a person from committing a sin.

Another type of dream highlighted in scripture is the natural cause dreams.

Ecclesiastes 5:3 For a dream comes through much activity, And a fool’s voice is known by his many words. (NKJV)

Psalm 73:20 also gives an interesting view of these types of dreams. It describes some types of dreams as mere laughable fantasies. This verse in Psalm says that the prosperity of the wicked people is short- lived just like fantasies in a night dream. Look at the verse: They are like a dream when one awakes; when you arise, Lord, you will despise them as fantasies. (NIV).

Where the New International Version uses the word ‘fantasies’ in this verse, the English Standard Version uses the word ‘phantoms’ and the New Living Translation adopts the words ‘silly ideas’. This means that the psalmist in this verse compares nightly dreams to fantasies, phantoms and silly ideas.

 A lot of dreams, you and I would agree  with the psalmist, are such, nothing serious but the result of too much brain activity during our waking hours as the preacher in Ecclesiastes writes in the verse below. For instance, when a fully grown adult dreams of sitting their primary or secondary school exams or falling off a cliff or finding a bag full of money abandoned somewhere and suddenly becomes very rich! In fact, the Preacher seems to have a very low regard for these kinds of dreams because in the same chapter quoted above, he adds:  Much dreaming and many words are meaningless. Therefore fear God. (Ecclesiastes 5:7, NIV)

I agree and take note that the book of Ecclesiastes is highly poetic in nature and may not be the best book to focus on when trying to form a theology on any matter.  However,  from it we can have a glimpse of how the preacher understood dreams and how much regard he had for them. Again, the preacher is not the only one who seems to hold certain category dreams in such low regard in the Old Testament. In another instance in the New International Version (NIV), the prophet Isaiah mentions the word ‘dream’ in three verses all of which seem to be in contempt of this particular category of dreams. Look at the following verses:

Isaiah 29:7-8 Then the hordes of all the nations that fight against Ariel, that attack her and her fortress and besiege her, will be as it is with a dream, with a vision in the night— ⁸ as when a hungry person dreams of eating, but awakens hungry still; as when a thirsty person dreams of drinking, but awakens faint and thirsty still. So will it be with the hordes of all the nations that fight against Mount Zion (NIV). Here we also see the vanity of a certain category of dreams being exposed in these verses.

Another way the Bible presents dreams is as being of prophetic function and foretelling the future. This is demonstrated in the story of Joseph. Other examples of this are with Gideon (Judges 7:13-15),  Nebuchadnezzar’s dream of world empires (Daniel 2:1-45); Nebuchadnezzar’s “tree” dream (Daniel 4:4-28); Daniel’s dream of the four winds, the great sea, and the four great beasts (Daniel 7:1-28). This particular form of dreams however comes with a caveat, warning God’s people against those who prophesy falsely or with false motives. And there are numerous verses in the Old Testament text that warn the people of God against such.

We shall consider them here:

If a prophet, or one who foretells by dreams, appears among you and announces to you a sign or wonder, ² and if the sign or wonder spoken of takes place, and the prophet says, “Let us follow other gods” (gods you have not known) “and let us worship them,” ³ you must not listen to the words of that prophet or dreamer. The Lord your God is testing you to find out whether you love him with all your heart and with all your soul. ⁴ It is the Lord your God you must follow, and him you must revere. Keep his commands and obey him; serve him and hold fast to him. ⁵ That prophet or dreamer must be put to death for inciting rebellion against the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt and redeemed you from the land of slavery. That prophet or dreamer tried to turn you from the way the Lord your God commanded you to follow. You must purge the evil from among you. (Deuteronomy 13:1-5, NIV)

The above quotation is part of a long discourse that Moses gave to the nation of Israel when he neared his time of death. He wanted to make sure that the people of God were prepared to keep God’s commands even when he was no longer there. Moses emphasizes here that one of the main ways through which the children of Israel would fall into the trap of worshipping false gods is through false prophets and dreamers. He notes that such false prophets would use dreams of prophetic nature to deceive the people into rebelling against the God of Israel. Moses warns that such prophets were to be banished from Israel even if their prophetic dreams came true as long as those prophets contradicted the commands of God in any way.

This is a very important point when it comes to this concept of dreams and prophecy. The point is, every dream or prophecy must be tested against the already revealed word of God and it must align with it. If any dream or prophecy or vision contradicts the already revealed Word of God, such must be disregarded and so should the dreamer or prophet or seer. In fact, in the Old Testament times, such ought to have been put to death.

Other true Old Testament prophets of Yahweh also spoke very strongly against the prophets, dreamers, seers and leaders among Israelites who deceived the people using false prophetic dreams. 

Isaiah 56:10 Israel’s watchmen are blind, they all lack knowledge; they are all mute dogs, they cannot bark; they lie around and dream, they love to sleep (NIV). In this verse, the whole concept of dreaming among the leaders of Israel is portrayed as a poor leadership quality by prophet Isaiah. It is interesting to however notice how much reliance is placed on dreams by people who are supposed to be ‘watchers’ among the people of God, including even in church. There are many churches in our cities today where people flock looking for a ‘seer’ who sees ‘visions’ and dreams on behalf of the people.

See how prophet Isaiah describes such ‘watchers’ in the verse highlighted above and the one next to it in Isaiah 56:11 They are dogs with mighty appetites; they never have enough. They are shepherds who lack understanding; they all turn to their own way, they seek their own gain. (NIV). The prophet warns that the leaders of Israel that depended on dreams to guide Israel lacked understanding, were selfish and dangerous.

When we turn to the mention of dreams by prophet Jeremiah, we see that Jeremiah is mainly warning the people against false prophets and seers who deceive God’s people using fake dreams. This is well highlighted in in chapters 23, 27 and 29 in the book of Jeremiah. In chapter 23, the whole discussion about false prophets starts in verse 9 all the way to verse 39. Let’s look at the verses that specifically talk about dreams; 25 - 32 in context.

²⁵ “I have heard what the prophets say who prophesy lies in my name. They say, ‘I had a dream! I had a dream!’ ²⁶ How long will this continue in the hearts of these lying prophets, who prophesy the delusions of their own minds? ²⁷ They think the dreams they tell one another will make my people forget my name, just as their ancestors forgot my name through Baal worship. ²⁸ Let the prophet who has a dream recount the dream, but let the one who has my word speak it faithfully. For what has straw to do with grain?” declares the Lord. ²⁹ “Is not my word like fire,” declares the Lord, “and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces?

³⁰ “Therefore,” declares the Lord, “I am against the prophets who steal from one another words supposedly from me. ³¹ Yes,” declares the Lord, “I am against the prophets who wag their own tongues and yet declare, ‘The Lord declares.’ ³² Indeed, I am against those who prophesy false dreams,” declares the Lord. “They tell them and lead my people astray with their reckless lies, yet I did not send or appoint them. They do not benefit these people in the least,” declares the Lord. (Jeremiah 23:25-32, NIV).

In these verses Jeremiah made it clear that some of the prophets of Israel were lying to the people with delusions of their own minds in the name of dreams. Jeremiah called them out for their false dreams which he termed as reckless lies. We see here the great harm that dreams caused when misused and abused by the spiritual leaders of Israel. Even today the potential for such harm is very well alive when we put unnecessary focus on dreams and visions. Jeremiah therefore, in chapters 27 and 29, warns the children of Israel not to pay attention to the dreams of these false prophets in the following verses:

Jeremiah 27:9 So do not listen to your prophets, your diviners, your interpreters of dreams, your mediums or your sorcerers who tell you, ‘You will not serve the king of Babylon.’(NIV)

Jeremiah 29:8 Yes, this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: “Do not let the prophets and diviners among you deceive you. Do not listen to the dreams you encourage them to have. (NIV)

The prophet Zechariah is equally disapproving and warns of false dreamers and diviners with false visions. He writes:

Zechariah 10:2 The idols speak deceitfully, diviners see visions that lie; they tell dreams that are false, they give comfort in vain. Therefore the people wander like sheep oppressed for lack of a shepherd. (NIV)

I would comment here that the above three verses from Old Testament prophets find extra relevance in modern day Christianity as compared to the time of Old Testament Judaism. The possibility of deceptive dreams and visions is possibly higher today than in the days of prophets Jeremiah and Zechariah for reasons we shall state towards the end of this exposition. 

The verse quoted above from the book of Zechariah is the last verse in the Old Testament that mentions dreams in the New International Version. However, the second-to-last verse in the Old Testament that talks about dreams is found in the book of Joel. This verse is possibly one of the most significant verses in the scriptures on this topic because it also quoted in the New Testament. Again, this verse speaks very approvingly of prophetic dreams. Here it is:

Joel 2:28 “And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. This verse is futuristic  in nature even by the plain reading of it. It tells of a time in the future when God’s Spirit on His people will cause them to prophesy, dream dreams, and see visions. Of course, this would be a wonderful and a glorious thing seeing that it would be under the direct influence of the Holy Spirit of God. But the big question is, what and when is the fulfillment of this prophesy in biblical timelines?

We can agree that at the fulfillment of this prophecy, dreaming dreams will be such a wonderful thing that will be of so much blessing to the people of God. To answer the question raised above on the what and when is the fulfillment of this promise and prophecy, we can now turn to the mentions of this topic in the New Testament.

Dreams in the New Testament Context

The significance of dreams in the New Testament seems clearly diminished owing to the minimal mention of the same throughout the text of the New Testament. There are only 8 verses that make mention of the word. Let’s quickly consider those verses.

The mentions of the word dreams are in three books; the Gospel of Matthew (6 verses), the book of Acts of the Apostles, and the epistle of Jude. In the three books, dreams are mentioned under three distinct categories.

In the gospel of Matthew, we find actual dreams that occurred and which were from God. Five of the verses related to the birth and infancy of Jesus, with four of these being directed to Joseph (Matthew 1:20 and 2:13,19&22) and one being directed to the Magi / wise men from the East (Matthew 2:12). The other one verse in Matthew was a warning from God to Pilate’s wife concerning Pilates role in the trial of Jesus towards crucifixion. (Matthew 27:19)

In those verses, we see the concept of dreams in their proper place where God used them as a medium of communication with his people to warn them or guide them to making the right decisions. However, this is the only place where we see dreams given such regard and role in the New Testament.

The next time dreams are mentioned in the New Testament is in the context of fulfilling the Old Testament prophecy from the book of Joel, which we chose to discuss in the New Testament context. Let’s look at the verse now:

Acts 2:17 “‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams.

As one can quickly notice, this is the same verse in Joel 2:28 slightly paraphrased. In fact, Acts 2:17-21 is almost a direct quote from Joel 2:28-32. In context the passage in Acts is part of the speech by Peter on the day of Pentecost addressing the Jews gathered in Jerusalem. Some people having heard the disciples speak in new tongues after the Holy Spirit came upon them, were amazed while others mocked them saying that the disciples were drunk with too much wine.

Peter therefore responds by explaining to them that what they were seeing and experiencing on that day was actually a fulfillment of various Old Testament prophecies starting with the one quoted from the book of Joel. Peter also quotes the Old Testament words of King David Psalms 16:8-11 and 110:1, whom he also refers to as a prophet.

So now, regarding this verse, let’s go back to the question we had asked concerning it when we encountered it in the Old Testament book of Joel. What and when is the fulfillment of this prophesy in biblical timelines?

For this, we need to consider one of the most important yet basic principles of Bible interpretation; the principle of scripture interpreting scripture. This basically means that the best tool to refer to when interpreting scripture is scripture itself. It means that when you want to understand what a certain text of scripture means, you check there is another text of scripture that seeks to explain the text in question.

When we apply this principle to the verse in Joel 2:28 about dreams, we can correctly say that the interpretation of this verse in the Old Testament is clearly given by the Apostle Peter in the Acts 2 text. It would then be correct that the answer to our question is that the fulfillment of the prophecy by Joel was on the Day of Pentecost and moving forward as explained by the Apostle Peter in our text in Acts 2. This is clear because Peter was making the case that what the Jews were experiencing on that day was a fulfillment of that prophecy. In fact, in the same chapter in Acts, Peter is making the case that Jesus fulfilled multiple Old Testament prophecies about the Messiah when he quotes from psalms 16 and 110 as mentioned above.

Why does this matter? The understanding that the prophecy in Joel was fulfilled  on and from the day of Pentecost means that the day that Joel foresaw about people prophesying, seeing visions and dreaming dreams was largely fulfilled on the day of Pentecost and shortly after. Now, does that mean that I do not expect to see more of prophecies, visions and dreaming after that in the New Testament church?

Again, to answer this question we go back to our basic principle of scripture interpreting scripture. In that, we are looking for other scriptures in the New Testament text that talk about these matters. Concerning prophecy, it seems that the Apostle Paul expected more of prophecy and the prophetic gift in the New Testament church as he wrote about it in various epistles. I do not wish to go to the specific verses on that because a simple check with a Bible concordance would demonstrate this.

Concerning visions, there are number of references in the New Testament after this verse. The difference between a dream and a vision in biblical language is that dreams occur during sleep while visions occur when one is awake. Perhaps one of the most impactful and well-known visions is that of Saul, who is later named Paul, on his way to Damascus in Acts 9. The book of Acts itself has about 14 verses with references to visions.  The book of Revelation is largely also a vision by John.

But what about dreams? As mentioned earlier, the New Testament has only 8 verses on them and we have so far looked at 7. It is important to note that after the verse in the book of Acts, there is only one other verse that talks about the topic of dreams in the New Testament. Here it is:

In the very same way, on the strength of their dreams these ungodly people pollute their own bodies, reject authority and heap abuse on celestial beings (Jude1:8,NIV)

Yet in like manner these people also, relying on their dreams, defile the flesh, reject authority, and blaspheme the glorious ones.(ESV)

For context, the entire book of Jude which is only one chapter is primarily about warnings regarding the sin and doom of ungodly people except for the greetings and doxology. Jude describes and warns of the infiltration of such people among believers. The verse highlighted above is one of the descriptions of the ungodliness of these people. It is noteworthy here that part of their wayward ways is their reliance on dreams that causes them to pollute their own bodies and reject authority among other ungodly acts. It goes without saying that the reference here is very disapproving of reliance on dreams.

Notably this the only thing said in reference to dreams in the New Testament outside the Gospels and Acts of Apostles. This is important because something very noteworthy happened in the second chapter of Acts. This is the Pentecost experience when the promised Helper came down upon the disciples of Christ. Jesus had promised His disciples of the coming Helper and what He would help them in. He said:
But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. (John 14:26, ESV)

From the above verse it would be proper to say that once the Holy Spirit came, the disciples could now entirely rely on Him for all teaching and remembrance of the things that Jesus taught them. We can say that it is this Holy Spirit that helped the gospel writers to remember the events that they recorded and for the epistle writers to interpret the teachings of Jesus. What this meant is that the Holy Spirit was the ultimate guide in all these things.

I am arguing here that the place of things like dreams as a means of communication between God and the apostles was effectively diminished upon the arrival of the Promise. In fact, going back to the principle of scripture interpreting scripture, there is nowhere else in the New Testament text where God spoke to His people or servants by way of dreams past the day of Pentecost. Going by this precedence, I make the case here that while it is possible for God to still speak to the New Testament believer through dreams, it is very unlikely.

Let us stop here for a minute and consider what some Bible commentators have to say about this verse in Joel 2:28 which is also quoted by the Apostle Peter in Acts 2:28 about dreams, visions, and prophecy.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown comments “No other dream is mentioned in the New Testament save those given to Joseph in the very beginning of the New Testament, before the full Gospel had come; and to the wife of Pilate, a Gentile (Matthew 1:20; 2:13; 27:19). "Prophesying" in the New Testament is applied to all speaking under the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit, and not merely to foretelling events. All true Christians are "priests" and "ministers" of our God (Isaiah 61:6), and have the Spirit (Ezekiel 36:26, 27). Besides this, probably, a special gift of prophecy and miracle-working is to be given at or before Messiah's coming again.” (https://biblehub.com/commentaries/joel/2-28.htm) Jamieson also says “in the New Testament, visions and dreams are rather the exception than the rule.” (https://biblehub.com/commentaries/acts/2-17.htm)

Matthew Poole Comments regarding the phrase: Your old men shall dream dreams; “no difference of age, to old men who had been long blind in the things of God the mysteries of grace shall be revealed, and these shall know as certainly and clearly as if God had extraordinarily revealed himself to them by dreams sent of God upon them.” (https://biblehub.com/commentaries/joel/2-28.htm)

Gill's Exposition observes “though prophecy, dreams, and visions, being the usual ways of conveying knowledge, here signify that the knowledge of men in Gospel times should be equal to, yea, exceed, whatever was communicated to men in the highest degree in former times: John the Baptist was greater than any of the prophets, and yet the least in the kingdom of heaven was greater than he, Luke 7:28.”

Geneva Study Bible comments, “As they had visions and dreams in ancient times, so will they now have clearer revelations.”  

From the Bible commentaries above and the others that I reviewed, the most common understanding of these verses is that the time prophesied by Joel was fulfilled when Jesus came to earth as the Messiah and during the subsequent preaching of the gospel by the Apostles of Christ who had a much deeper revelation of God than the OT prophets. Other commentators also think that there is likely a time in the future at the second coming of Christ or moments prior to this that the events in this prophecy will be made manifest once again. Still other commentators think that the when the Holy Spirit was poured out on the day of Pentecost, this prophecy was fulfilled in that the Teacher whom Jesus promised His disciples came. The Teacher gave superior advantage to all those that He came upon to understand God’s oracles in a much better sense than the OT Prophets. This is thought to be what Jesus meant when he said that John the Baptist is the greatest of all Prophets but the least of the NT believer is greater than he.

Additionally, concerning the other matters highlighted in the prophecy of Joel and recounted in Acts 2, that is prophesying and seeing visions, it can also be strongly argued that while the same are prevalent in the rest of the New Testament text, there is a significant event that happened which could also lower the expectation we have for such as New Testament believers. The event in question is the completion of the Canon of Scripture. By this I mean the completion of the entire inspired written word of God. I don’t mean here the compilation of the 66 canonical books but rather the initial writing of the same. The 66 canonical books comprise what is termed in theological circles as Special Revelation. This is the written word of God or the Bible.

Once this was done it is proper to argue that the place of dreams, visions and prophecies was diminished as a means of God communicating to His people. A chapter and a verse to support that? Here it is:

Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, ² but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also He created the world. ³ He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, ⁴ having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs. (Hebrews 1:1-4, ESV)

Verse 2 above clearly states that God has spoken to us by his Son. We also know from elsewhere in scripture that Jesus is the Word of God. The Apostle John writes about Jesus:  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ² He was in the beginning with God. ³ All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made.

The above verses make a very strong case for the proposition that God has said all He needed to say to humanity in and through inspired Scriptures, that is the canonical 66 books of the Bible. Jesus is the incarnate Word of God (John 1:14), while the Bible is the inspired Word of God. There is hardly any more need for dreams, visions and prophesies, to guide God’s people who are also indwelt by the Holy Spirit, the Teacher and the one who reminds the believer all things that Jesus (the incarnate Word) spoke to us.

I can hereby agree with the saying that, if you want to hear what God is saying, open your Bible! Paul strongly affirms  this when writing to his mentee Timothy. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for ^[c]instruction in righteousness, ¹⁷ that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work (NKJV). This is the concept of Sufficiency of Scripture.

This is how Wayne Grudem in his book Systematic Theology, defines this concept: The sufficiency of Scripture means that Scripture contained all the words of God that He intended His people to have at each stage of redemptive history, and that it now contains everything we need God to tell us for salvation, for trusting Him perfectly, and for obeying Him perfectly. This definition emphasizes that it is in Scripture alone that we are to search for God’s words to us. It also reminds us that God considers what He has told us in the Bible to be enough for us, and that we should rejoice in the great revelation that He has given us and be content with it.

But how does God speak to those who are yet to be reached using the Bible, you may ask. One, is by what is known in theological circles as “general revelation.” (Remember earlier we mentioned “Special Revelation” which is the inspired written Word of God). General Revelation however is the knowledge or revelation that can be acquired by observing the created universe as Paul writes in Romans 1:19-20 ¹⁹ For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. ²⁰ For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. (ESV)  (Also see Psalm 19:1-6)

I could also mention here that there are seemingly credible reports from places in the world where the Bible or the Gospel of Christ is suppressed, but where people have had visions and dreams about Jesus and have consequently been led to the faith in Christ Jesus. One thing to note about these places that is peculiar is that most have radical Islam or atheism and where the inspired Word of God is not readily available and the preaching of the Gospel is prohibited. It is very uncommon in places where the Bible is readily available and the Gospel is widely preached.

One last point to reiterate here and this is an application from the text quote earlier from Deuteronomy 13:1-5: In the event one has a dream, it has to align with the already revealed and inspired Word of God for it to be considered to be from/of God. It must therefore be examined through the lens of Scripture and rejected to the extent that it contradicts it. This applies to visions and prophecies as well.

Conclusions and Summary

What is the conclusion then?

✔      Natural cause dreams(non-spiritual dreams) are common occurrences to every human being and mostly result from our day-to-day preoccupations. Those are merely laughable fantasies.

✔      Prophetic dreams were a common way for God to pass His messages to people in the Old Testament.

✔      Dreams were also heavily abused by false prophets in the Old Testament to mislead and deceive God’s people.

✔      The Bible condemns those who rely on dreams that do not come from God.

✔      Dreams are a rare occurrence in the New Testament as a way of God communicating with his people and no such occurrences happened after the Day of Pentecost in the New Testament.

✔      The New Testament believer needs not ordinarily expect, pursue or rely on dreams for whatever purpose in his/her Christian walk. We have the Holy Spirit and the written Word of God. This is the concept of Sufficiency of Scripture.

✔      God can still use dreams today, especially to reach unevangelized people especially in places where interaction with the Bible is supressed and/or prohibited.

✔      Any dream thought to be from God must be scrutinized under the teachings of the Bible and rejected if it contradicts the Bible in any way, shape or form.