Just as fair warning, in this short chapter, I am going to give you a shotgun blast of information. My goal is to not do a in depth study of the different passages. More, I just want to outline a quick overview of some Scripture that will help give you better context into how God has used dreams throughout history. The basics learned here will be an important framework to build upon for other interpretation tools discussed in my blogs and book. 

The Bible is one of the oldest historical texts on the planet and is one of the first to talk about dreams. Now, it is important to know there are older Egyptian and Babylonian / Assyrian texts that discuss dreams, but the Bible most certainly contains some of the most diverse contextual definitions and applications of dreams out of any historical manuscript. Not to mention, the Bible just happens to be inspired by God - sooo - we should probably pay attention. 

One of first stories in the Bible mentioning dreams involves Job, and dates back to an estimated 2200 BC. The book of Job, chapters 4 and 33, is also the first place that defines dreams as “visions of the night.” This should change the way you view them. The word “visions” makes them feel more like something is happening outside of my body to me, rather than something that comes from within. For sake of comparison—Carl Jung, famous psychologist, argued that dreams were merely “genetic junk.” I'm over simplifying his views, but Jung saw dreams as a way for your body to release chemicals from food or emotions throughout your week. Sigmund Freud defined them as the “subconscious self” re-emerging. I would argue that both have some merit but their views do not completely frame what takes place during the night. 

In dreams I’ve been healed of sicknesses. I've been given insight and information I didn’t know about other people. I've read my mother’s prayers for me and my brother, I've been given directions to places I’ve never been and encounters with God. This is where visions of the night begins to make a lot more sense. Ephesians 6:12 says, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.” Dreams also begin to take the form of reflecting some heavenly activities whether of God or of darkness. We will attempt to discuss this further in the next blog, Dream Types.

In the Bible, dreams have demonstrated God’s desire to interact with and share secrets with His servants even as they sleep. From Abraham to Joseph, the father of Jesus, God has spoken with His children through dreams to encourage them, warn them, or tell them of things to come, as was the case with Daniel. God has even spoken with kings and citizens of other nations to give them messages on behalf of God’s servants, as in the case of Abimelech and Abraham, or as in the case of Pilot’s wife with Jesus. Daniel and Joseph gained favor with the kings and leadership of foreign nations through their ability to hear God’s voice and interpret dreams. In a dream, Jacob was even given instruction on how to favorably breed goats since he had been cheated out of wages many times by Laban. One of the last occurrences of dreams being used in the Bible was with Joseph, the father of Jesus. In Matthew 1:20, it says an angel visited him in a dream to explain to him Mary’s pregnancy and the importance of the son that she was carrying. 

The Bible gives us such a broad context of dreams, from influencing kings, or presidents and prime ministers in todays terms, to creating wealth, or being protected. Whether it is through angels bringing you messages in dreams or God giving you secrets to advance you in favor with people, God has used dreams in many unusual ways to advance His kingdom and those building it. 

So, if you learn anything, don’t put God in a box. He can speak to us in many different ways and for many different reasons. There have been multiple occasions where I’ve almost missed a really significant dream just because it didn’t fit within the box I had created for Him. 

Below, I listed many references to passages in the Bible where God used dreams to communicate with His people. My heart is to invite you into your own exploration and journey with Scripture. When studying the passages, take note of the differences in how God told His message to man. Either way, this section is a great foundation to build upon before we start diving into dream definitions and specifics.

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