Joel 2: 28 says, “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.”   On the day of Pentecost God poured out His Spirit on the people (Acts 2).  God’s Spirit enables us to have visions and dreams.   I, the LORD, reveal myself to them in visions, I speak to them in dreams (Numbers 12:6).  God speaks to us primarily through His written Word and sometimes through dreams, visions, and people.

Assurance, revelation, instruction, warning, restoration, judgement, and the future were communicated through dreams.  

The angel of the Lord appeared in a dream and spoke to Joseph.  He  revealed that Mary was pregnant and assured him that what was conceived in her was from the Holy Spirit. He also told him not to be afraid to take her as his wife and instructed him to give the child the name Jesus (Matthew 1:18-24).   In another dream Joseph was warned and instructed to take the child and mother to Egypt  because Herod was going to search for the child to kill him (Matthew 2:13).  After Herod died  he was again instructed through a dream to return to the land of Israel (Matt 2:19-20).

In a dream Jacob saw how to increase his flocks (Genesis 31:10-12).  Jacob fled with his two wives, children and flocks without telling Laban.  Laban pursued Jacob and when he finally caught up with him, God warned in a dream not to say anything to him, either good or bad (Genesis 31:24).  Joseph, his son, had a series of dreams that revealed his future, but his father and his brothers were not happy with the dreams (Gen.37:5).  Pharaoh had two dreams about the future in the same night, about 7 years of great abundance and 7 years of famine to follow (Genesis 41).  The cupbearer and the baker who offended the king of Egypt were put into prison, both of them had dreams of their own.  One was about restoration and the other was about judgement (Genesis 40).

So, who interprets dreams?  Interpretation belongs to God (Genesis 40:8).  God gave Joseph the ability to interpret the dreams of the cupbearer and the baker while he was in prison with them.  He also interpreted Pharaoh’s dreams and made preparations for the future.  Daniel was able to  interpret the dream King Nebuchdnezzar had because the Spirit of the Lord was upon him (Daniel 4).

In my next blog I would like to share about a series of dreams I had in 2004.

I encourage you to discern and ask the Holy Spirit to guide you.   Be like the Bereans and examine the Scriptures every day to see if what you are reading and hearing is true (Acts 17:11).  You must inquire, probe, and investigate it thoroughly for yourself (Deut.13:5).