I Had a Dream

“It will come about after this that I will pour out My Spirit on all mankind;
and your sons and your daughters will prophesy, your old men will have dreams, . . .”  Joel 2:28  NASB

Dreams – What is a dream?  The question has haunted human investigation for centuries.  If you’re curious, you might look at this article (CLICK HERE).  As the article suggests, most dreams are “forgotten” by the time we wake up.  But not always.  A few nights ago I had a dream that I continue to remember even now.  In my dream I was among family and friends although I could not identify them.  I slowly realized that there was a great threat present, not from my compatriots but from some unknown source that, if not stopped, would harm us all.  I saw these white figures approaching but despite my growing terror I was unable to prevent any of their actions.  In fact, the closer they came, the more paralyzed I felt.  I saw my children, not as they are today but as they were at ages five or six.  All of them at the same age despite the fact that in reality they are decades apart.  They were unaware of the approaching evil.  I could see them frolicking but there was no sound.  Deathly silence.  Then I saw that we were all in a house with staircases, white walls, and high ceilings reaching to the clouds.  A feeling of claustrophobia ensued.  I was suffocating.  And I woke up.

This strange dream (very strange I think) pushed me to investigate the biblical idea of dreams.  As you are well aware, dreams in the Bible are often vehicles whereby God communicates something important to men.  These are usually the only dreams recorded although it goes without saying that the men and women in Scripture certainly had dreams much like we do, forgotten upon waking.  It’s interesting that the Hebrew word for “dream,” (derived from the root “to dream”) has no linguistic alternatives.  The one word for “dream” is ḥălôm.  While there are two categories of dreams, the biblical uniqueness is important:

(1) Ordinary dreams, such as all people have periodically during sleep. They can be frightening (Job 7:14); are transitory (Job 20:8; Isa 29:7–8); and have natural causes (Eccl 5:2). This is significant theologically as establishing the point that authors of scripture endorse no general theory of psychic or religious significance of dreams. . . . (2) Revelatory dreams, in which God conveys information to mankind.

Both dreams and visions (see ḥōzeh and hāzôn) were frequent modes of divine communication to the prophets of Israel. Numbers 12:4–6 is specific to this point. It is by no means clear that such were the exclusive modes of divine communication, even though dreams and visions were characteristic. (See Isa 1:1 and contrast Jer 1:1–2–“vision” versus “word” and “words.”) Hebrews 1:1 suggests many modes of communication.

“Dream” seems to designate the sleeping state of prophetic receptivity and “vision” the individual segment within the dream. Dan 7, for example speaks of “a dream” in which there were several “visions of his head upon his bed” (v. 1; see vv. 2, 7, 13).^[1]

Some dreams matter in the biblical world.  Most don’t.  At least they don’t matter in the larger theological sense.  They aren’t always God speaking to me, or His spirit communicating something I need to know.  It is the world of pagan religion that places enormous value on each and every dream.  While I wish I could make “rational” sense of my own dreams, it’s quite unlikely that they are God’s messages to me while I sleep.  And if they were, I’m quite certain He would make that abundantly clear.  The fog of my dreams is just that—psychic fog.  And I’m left to wonder, “What was that all about?”

“The dreamer must awaken” is science fiction, with the emphasis on “fiction.”  It would be lovely if some dreams were portends of blessed futures.  The others we hope are not.  But when God gives a dream, we won’t wake up confused about what it was.  I’m pretty sure we’ll know.  Until then, I’m just one of those old men who dreams—and wonders.

Topical Index: dream, ḥălôm, vision, prophecy, Joel 2:28

^[1] Culver, R. D. (1999). 663 חָלַם. R. L. Harris, G. L. Archer Jr., & B. K. Waltke (Eds.), Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (electronic ed., p. 291). Chicago: Moody Press.