Dreams and the Bible

In the Bible there are constant references to communication between man and God, between man and the angels, and between man and his
higher self through the medium of dreams. The moral standards of the
individual are exactly reflected in the clarity and degree of quality
of his or her dreams.

Joseph, the eleventh son of Jacob (favourite) had the ability not only
to remember and interpret his own dreams, but to interpret those of
others. In his first two dreams the symbols were associated with his
work, because he was a seventeen year old shepherd boy then. He
dreamed that he was in the cornfields working with his brothers when
suddenly his sheaf rose and stood upright, and the sheaves of his
brothers gathered around and bowed before it. The brothers,
recognising the symbol this implied, resented the arrogance of the
dream; and even his father rebuked him when Joseph's second dream
showed the sun, moon, and eleven stars bowing down to him: "Shall I
and thy mother and thy brethren indeed come to bow down to thee to the
earth?" [Gen.37:5-10] The young Joseph was sold into slavery by his
brothers because of their jealousy, and some time later he rose to the
position of overseer in the house of Potiphar. Then, having rejected
the advances of Potiphar's wife, he found himself in prison. While
there he correctly interpreted two precognitive dreams for two fellow
prisoners. One, a butler for the Pharaoh dreamed: [ A vine was before
me; and in the vine were three branches; and it was though it budded,
and blossoms shot forth; and the clusters thereof brought forth ripe
grapes....and I took the grapes and pressed them into Pharaoh's cup,
and i gave the cup to Pharaoh.] Joseph's interpretation went as
follows: "The growing vine....the butler will live......three branches
- in three days. The cup in Pharaoh's hand - he would resume his
duties as butler." The Pharaoh's baker however, dreamed: [I had three
white baskets on my head: and in the uppermost basket there were all
manner of bakemeats for Pharaoh; and the birds did eat them out of the
basket upon my head.] Joseph foretold of the baker's death within
three days. After this had been heard by Pharaoh, following the
accurate predictions/outcomes, Joseph was summoned to deal with the
recurring dream he was experiencing. (see famous dreams).

Later in the old testament, a similar precognitive dream guided
Gideon. As the Israelites were preparing to attack the Midianites, a
soldier dreamed the following: [Behold, I dreamed a dream, and lo, a
cake of barley bread tumbled into the host of Midian and came unto a
tent and smote it that it fell, and overturned it that the tent lay
along.] (Judges 7:13-14) The loaf of barley represents Gideon, for he
was a miller by trade, and (Judges 6:11) describes how this prophetic
dream was fulfilled by Gideon's defeat of the Midianites.

The Bible also tells how King Nebuchadnezzar suffered a nightmare
which he conveniently forgot upon waking. Distrusting his advisers, he
sent forth an edict throughout the kingdom demanding that a true seer
come forward to recall and interpret his dream. Daniel and his friends
prayed earnestly to God to reveal the dream of the king. That night in
a vision, Daniel saw the dream: [The king had dreamed of a great image
made of various metals. The feet were made of iron and clay. A
non-human hand took a stone and broke the statue into small pieces
which the wind carried away. The stone became a mountain filling the
whole world.] Daniel presented himself before the king and warned him
that the stone which filled the whole earth represented God's law,
and, thus, his arrogance and paganism could cost him his kingdom.
Nebuchadnezzar's defiance of these laws was the image so easily
scattered by the wind. The king refused to mend the error of his ways
until one day, as he was walking on the roof of his palace at Babylon,
he heard a voice say: "O king Nebuchadnezzar.....the kingdom is
departed from thee. And they shall drive thee from men and thy
dwelling shall be with the beasts of the fields." [Dan. 4:31] This
prophecy was fulfilled when madness visited the king, and not until he
had duly repented and his kingdom was restored to him.

Solomon's dreams are of another character. God invited him to select
his own reward for his faithful service. Solomon, disregarding riches
and power, asked only for wisdom to rule his people. As a result of
the nobility of his choice, he was also awarded wealth and power.

Five dreams of guidance for the holy family are found in Matthew. The
first one explains to Joseph the pregnancy of Mary: ".....the angel of
the lord appeared unto him in a dream saying, Joseph, thou son of
David, fear not to take unto thee Mary for thy wife: for that which is
conceived in her is of the holy ghost. And she will bring forth a son,
and thou shalt call his name Jesus: for he shall save his people from
their sins." [Matt. 1:20-21] Joseph was also warned that Herod planned
to kill the child Jesus and was told to flee with him to Egypt.
[Matt.2:13] After the death of Herod an angel appeared again in a
dream and said to Joseph: "Arise, and take the young child and his
mother and go into the land of Israel: for they are dead which sought
the young childs life." [Matt.2:20]

But nowhere is the universality of dreams more apparent than when
Pilate's wife, a foreigner in the land, was warned in a dream that her
husband must prevent the persecution of Jesus. She said to Pilate:
"Have thou nothing to do with that just man: for I have suffered many
things this day in a dream because of him" [Matt. 27:19

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