Dreams & Visions – Does the Lord Still Speak to Us This Way?  

In today’s topic we will touch on something that may not always resonate with everyone but it is Biblical. We will go over dreams and visions. The question in the title asks if the Lord still speaks to us this way? After we review some scriptures, you will see the Lord communicated many times throughout the centuries to His people through dreams and visions. So let us dive in and see what the Bible reveals. 

Dreams and visions do play a significant role in today’s religious texts. They still hold importance for people because this is how the Lord still communicates with His followers.

Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever. Hebrews 13:8 KJV

The Bible tells us Jesus has not changed. Even though some people may not understand their dreams or believe they do not dream at all, but dreams do occur. The Lord uses images to communicate with us and lead us in a certain direction. Understanding these dreams comes by spending time with the Lord and even learning from Him. There are several examples of people in the Bible who were led by dreams or the Lord revealed certain events that would occur in their future. These are events that must be held on to. They are usually the end result of some challenging time a person may face. 

* Abimelech *

And God said unto him in a dream, Yea, I know that thou didst this in the integrity of thy heart; for I also withheld thee from sinning against me: therefore suffered I thee not to touch her. Genesis 20:6 KJV

In this scenario, God spoke to king Abimelech in a dream. Abraham and Sarah were traveling and they came across this kingdom. If you know the story, Abraham lied and said Sarah was his sister not his wife. He only told half the story. This is why the king decided to add her to his harem of women. She was beautiful and he wanted her for himself. 

But what did God do? He protected Abraham and Sarah and warned the king in a dream that he should not touch her. This is also a way the Lord can protect us. He warned the enemy because there really was no other way these two people could have escaped. But God was with them. He was guiding their path and protecting them from harm. The dream the king had was very direct. God did not speak in riddles or images. He spoke plainly and told the king who Sarah was and commanded him not to touch her. Abimelech did not need an interpreter or someone to explain what the dream meant. This was a plain and direct message from the Lord. So the king obeyed and released them. He actually couldn’t wait until they left. One could say he had the fear of God put in him. 

There are times when the Lord encourages a person to remember the image in the dream He gave. It can often be an uplifting scene. This helps a person focus on what He showed the person and lets them know this is where they are headed, instead of focusing on the challenging time they are facing.

* Joseph *

Joseph the second to last son of Jacob also had a dream. The Lord spoke to him and showed him his brothers, mother and including his father would bow to him. This is quite a dream. Joseph in his innocence shared it with his family. Sometimes we need to learn how to keep our mouth shut too when the Lord shows us something but it is difficult. You cannot help but want to share what the Lord tells us. This particular case may be an example of one of those times to be silent but it is not always possible.

There were times when Jesus healed people and He told them not to say anything but they could not contain themselves either. They went back to town and shared the news with everyone. 

And Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it his brethren: and they hated him yet the more. Genesis 37:5 KJV

In the story of Joseph, he was the favorite of Jacob mainly because he was the son of the wife Jacob originally intended to marry. Her name was Rachel. Jacob was tricked by her father to marry her sister first and therefore the other brothers were born first. These other 10 brothers were always jealous of him because Joseph was Jacob’s favorite. Now, when Joseph shared this dream with the family, his own brothers became envious and the scripture says they hated him more. 

The story of Joseph goes on to say the brothers sold him in to slavery and then he was falsely accused of adultery, he was sent to prison. All these things happened after he shared his dream. We don’t know if his life may have turned out differently if he didn’t say anything but we see the Lord revealed the end result to Joseph. The brothers, mother and father ultimately bowed to Joseph many years later because he became the second most powerful man in Egypt under the Pharaoh. 

Throughout the story we can see Joseph prospered in everything he did regardless if he was in prison or falsely accused. This is because the Lord was with him. 

The fulfillment of his dream came to pass many years later. It had been so long that he may have even forgotten about it until they were gathered under his roof in the palace. The key point I would like to show you is that Joseph continued to have a relationship with the Lord despite his circumstances. We know this because of the way he prospered in whatever he did. This is always a sign the Lord is with you. Favor and prosperity were his regardless of where Joseph was. 

If you are not familiar with the story of Joseph the reason he was propelled to second in command was because he interpreted the pharaoh’s dream.  This came after he explained the dreams of two other people who were in prison with him. Both of his interpretations came to pass as well. 

God used Joseph to explain the dream of the two prisoners of pharaoh’s court and because the dreams came to pass, he was then recommended to interpret the pharaoh’s dream. No one was able to understand the dreams but once the pharaoh heard what it meant, he was quite pleased and promoted Joseph. 

These are a few examples of people who had dreams, but what about visions? Are they different? There is a difference between a vision and a dream but either way the Lord can use them to communicate a message to us. A message in a dream is received when your eyes are shut and you are sleeping. A vision can be given when you are awake. With your eyes open, you can actually see something in the spirit realm and you are completely awake.

Let us expand a little on visions. 

* John, James, Peter *

And when they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no man, save Jesus only. And as they came down from the mountain, Jesus charged them, saying, Tell the vision to no man, until the Son of man be risen again from the dead. And his disciples asked him, saying, Why then say the scribes that Elias must first come? Matthew 17:8-10 KJV

These scriptures pertain to the transfiguration of Jesus on the mount. James, John and Peter saw Jesus glowing with glory and they saw Moses and Elijah (Elias) speaking with Jesus. It is interesting that they knew who Moses and Elijah were even if they never met them. This is because the Lord can give us revelation knowledge in our heart without words. They knew who they were and Peter immediately asked about Elijah. This is what is called, “a vision” because they were not asleep. They were awake on the mountain and the three all saw the vision with their own eyes. Not to mention the voice of God the Father speaking to them out of a cloud. They were quite stunned. 

In this scenario they saw something that would occur in the future and this future is coming close to being fulfilled in our time. I say the future because like many other visions and dreams they are about things to come. Through John’s vision the book of Revelation reveals to us a connection between what he saw on the mount of transfiguration and the end times of Israel.

* John *

The apostle John also had another vision and wrote the book of Revelation. Coincidentally, he was also one of the people who saw the vision with the other disciples. Is it a coincidence or is it on purpose? Because many things the Lord does is intentional. If we look at Revelation 11 we will read John saw the two witnesses prophesying in Israel in the last days. The chapter begins by telling us John saw an angel and this angel was giving him instructions regarding the temple and measuring it.

And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth. Revelation 11:3 KJV

These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth. Revelation 11:4 KJV

These two olive trees let us know they are from Israel because the Lord has often used olive trees to refer to Jews, and the two candlesticks are referring to people with the presence of the Lord. This is a symbolic description because spiritually they are light. 

When John saw these visions he was awake. He was not sleeping. Mainly, when we sleep we receive messages from the Lord in dreams. You may have read or heard of visions of the night but this is also referring to dreams. The Lord uses images to convey His message. He is not always direct as He was with Abimelech. If you recall the Lord used images or scenes with Pharaoh in the Bible.

* Job *

For God speaketh once, yea twice, yet man perceiveth it not.  In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falleth upon men, in slumberings upon the bed; Then he openeth the ears of men, and sealeth their instruction, Job 33:14-16 KJV

God speaks twice sometimes even three times to get our attention. By the third time of hearing or seeing the same thing, it usually gets your attention something is going on. As you see, Job called dreams, “visions of the night” because you are seeing images when you dream. Hopefully this gives a brief understanding of the difference between a vision and a dream. The Bible says the Lord is the same and the way He communicates a message to His people has not changed either. He still speaks to us with dreams and visions. 

Thank you for stopping by to read this post! Come back again and we will be expanding more on dreams and visions in another post.