I think it would
be right to say that most Christians today believe that God still speaks to
people through dreams.
There are more
than a few believers, however, who deny that He does this. They claim that He
stopped speaking in this way in the first century around the time the apostles
all died. In their view, all supposed messages from God in dreams today are
purely natural experiences, or perhaps even have a demonic origin at times.
I am convinced
that God does speak in dreams today, and in what follows I will argue for this
position. I am sure that the idea that He no longer speaks in this way fits
poorly with Scripture and stems from confused thinking about the role of the
Bible in the Christian life.
TESTIMONY OF DREAMS
Before getting
into the arguments themselves, I think it will be good to begin by saying a few
words about testimony of dreams.
I have never been
aware of God speaking to me in a dream myself, so unfortunately I can’t give
any first-hand testimony. But I have heard or read other Christians say that
they have experienced Him speaking in this way, and some of this testimony has
struck me as highly likely to be genuine.
Here are a few
examples I have heard about:
First, something
that I have come across repeatedly in recent years is reports of Muslim
converts to the Christian faith, who claim that they became Christians because
Jesus appeared to them in a dream.
I can’t remember
all the sources of this information I have seen, but I can remember one of
them, the magazine of the Christian relief agency for the persecuted church,
Barnabasfund. This is a very serious and sober organization run by Christians
who seem not at all to be the sort of people who are given to baseless stories
and hype.
I therefore take
what they have said about Jesus appearing in dreams very seriously.
Second, I can
remember talking to a devout Christian woman a long time ago, who said that
Jesus had appeared to her in a dream. She was going through a hard time at that
point in her life. I forget exactly what happened in the dream, but I know that
she was comforted and encouraged by the experience.
It is impossible
that this woman lied about what she experienced, and I think it is very
doubtful that she was even making an honest mistake about the source of the
dream.
Third, I recently spoke
to another devout Christian woman, who told me how a dream helped her and her
husband to move house. She saw a house in a dream, and then later, when they
were aiming to move, a property that happened to be for sale was the one she
saw in the dream. They understood this as God’s leading, and then bought that
house.
Again, it is
impossible that this woman was lying, and I think it is highly likely that this
dream really was from God.
DREAMS TODAY ARE NO THREAT TO THE BIBLE’S AUTHORITY
AND FINALITY
From what I have
seen, one of the main reasons why some Christians deny that God speaks in
dreams today is because they think that if He did this, it would threaten the
authority and finality of Scripture.
There is very
confused thinking going on here.
First, as regards
the Bible’s authority, it should be obvious that none of the examples I gave
above of God speaking in dreams remotely undermines the authority of Scripture.
And the same is true of all other dreams God gives in our day. Any revelation
that God gives in dreams today always fits perfectly with the Bible.
Second, as regards
the Bible’s finality, again, dreams in no way undermine this. No revelation
given by God in dreams today is designed to have scriptural authority or to
apply to the whole Christian church. Revelation in dreams is on a far lower
level than biblical revelation, and just applies to specific and individual
situations. This revelation in no way adds to the Bible, which has, of course,
been complete for the best part of two millennia.
THE USEFULNESS OF DREAMS
Those who say that
God never speaks in dreams today also often claim that there is no need for
dreams now that we have the New Testament.
There is another
huge mistake here.
To begin with, the
first example I gave above of Jesus appearing to Muslims in dreams concerns
people who would not be intending to read the NT anyway. So in their case, the
fact that the NT exists cannot possibly reduce the effectiveness of the dreams.
Secondly, as far
as Christians are concerned, the existence of the NT in no way means that
dreams are pointless. The NT gives us crucial, general principles about how to
live. But it should be obvious that in the course of our Christian lives, we
encounter numerous situations, sometimes complex ones, in which only reading
the Bible will not give us full insight into how we should act. And when
important decisions are involved, we need other direction from God.
For example, take
the following situations:
(1) A Christian
man is wondering whether to take a job he has been offered or to keep the one
he has. Despite praying and asking advice, he finds that the pros and cons are
evenly balanced.
(2) A Christian
couple are very unsure whether they should move to a different town or continue
to live where they are. Again, the pros and cons seem to cancel each other out.
(3) A church is
considering doing some evangelism. An opportunity opens up for them to reach
out to older people. And another opportunity arises for them to do outreach to
teenagers. But they feel that they can’t manage both. So they have to choose.
I could give a
multitude of similar examples. For individual Christians, Christian families
and churches, situations will often arise where reading the Bible doesn’t give
enough insight to know what the will of God is. Scripture is not designed to
give us direct and specific information about how to decide in situations like
these. Instead, it gives us general principles about how to live and what to
do.
It should be an
undeniable fact, then, that Christians and churches often have to choose
between various courses of action that seem to fit equally well with the Bible.
And some of these decisions are very big ones. What is more, it makes sense to
think that God is almost never neutral about big decisions we make. Almost
always He will want us to take one course of action instead of other
alternatives.
So Christians and
churches often find themselves in situations where they need to be able to hear
God speaking to them about what He specifically wants them to do.
There are some who
will readily accept this, but who still argue against dreams today. They say
that God is able to speak to us in other ways than by dreams, so He wouldn’t choose
to speak in dreams.
This argument is
completely misguided. Of course God can and does give specific insight to
Christians other than through dreams. But it is a big mistake to think in terms
of either-or here. It should be both-and. Speaking in dreams is one way in
which God sometimes gives insight to Christians. And this should be allowed to
take its place alongside other ways He speaks. It is absolutely wrong to
basically tell God that He mustn’t speak to us in a certain way. That is an
arrogant attitude indeed!
BIBLICAL TEACHING
The idea that God
doesn’t speak in dreams today not only involves confused thinking, but it also
fits poorly with Scripture.
Acts 2:16-18
The most important
passage on this topic is Acts 2:16-18. Here Peter, referring to the day of
Pentecost when the Holy Spirit was given, quotes the prophet Joel:
“16 But this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel:
17 ‘And it will be in the last days,’ says God, ‘that I will pour out my Spirit on all people. And your sons and daughters will prophesy, and your young men will see visions, and your old men will dream dreams. 18 Even on my slaves, both men and women, in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they will prophesy.’”
Peter is saying
that the events of the day of Pentecost are the beginning of the fulfillment of
Joel’s prophecy in Joel 2:28-32. Joel prophesied that God would pour out His
Spirit, says Peter, and this has now come into effect. And the text makes it
clear that pouring out the Spirit involves dreaming dreams, and these are
certainly dreams in which God speaks to His people.
The prophecy
explicitly says that “old men will
dream dreams.” However, it would be wrong to think that this means that only old men will dream dreams. Rather,
what we have here is a piece of rhetoric, in which each spiritual activity in
v. 17 applies to each of the groups of people mentioned in this verse. Sons and
daughters, young men and old men will all prophesy, see visions and dream
dreams.
Next, we must note
the time reference in this passage. It says that God will pour out His Spirit,
and that Christians will have dreams etc., “in
the last days.” The last days here is the period of time that began with
the crucifixion-resurrection-giving of the Spirit and will end with the return
of Christ.
But if God stopped
speaking in prophecies, visions and dreams in the first century, this would mean
that in fact it was only in the very first part of the last days that God
poured out His Spirit as Joel and Peter describe. And this does seem a rather
awkward interpretation of the text. Acts 2:16-18 therefore fits more naturally
with God speaking in dreams throughout the Christian era.
Acts 2:16-18 and salvation history
To think that God
no longer speaks in the prophecies, visions and dreams referred to in this
passage also fits poorly with what we know as “salvation history.”
This is a term
that refers to how God’s overall plan for human beings has unfolded in various
ways in different periods of history.
For example, the
calling of Abraham and the giving of the Law at Sinai involved radical new
departures from what had come before.
Later, the
ministry of John the Baptist brought something radically new, as did the
earthly ministry of Jesus.
The day of
Pentecost was also a huge change from what had come before. On this day the Spirit
was given, in fulfillment of the Old Testament promises of the New Covenant.
Crucially,
however, since Pentecost there has been no critical point in salvation history.
We are still in the same New Covenant era that began on that day.
In view of this,
it would be unexpected, to say the least, if God no longer spoke through
prophecies, visions and dreams. After the Spirit had descended on the day of
Pentecost, this would be like Him deciding to partially reascend to heaven for
no apparent reason.
SUMMING UP
There really seems
to be no good reason, then, for thinking that God no longer speaks in dreams
today.
This idea appears
to be result of confused thinking about the role of the Bible in the Christian
life. And it fits poorly with Acts 2:16-18.
It also runs up
against very plausible Christian testimony that God is using dreams in our day
to advance His work.
GUARDING AGAINST POTENTIAL DANGERS
If we accept, as
we should do, that God speaks through dreams today, we will nevertheless need
to exercise great care in this area.
It is surely true
that the vast majority of dreams that Christians have are not ones through
which God is aiming to communicate.
Sadly, some
Christians show much too little caution in their attitude to dreams they have
had. Rushing to assume that an unusual dream must be a message from God can
have disastrous consequences, if an important decision is based on the dream
alone.
Instead, those
Christians who think that God may have spoken in this way should humbly,
cautiously and prayerfully do their best to listen for the confirming voice of
the Holy Spirit.
See also:
