Frequently Asked Bible Questions

Does God communicate with Christians through dreams today? Do my dreams have spiritual significance?

Many people attach spiritual significance to disturbing dreams, but that's not the normal means by which God communicates with us.

It's true that God spoke through dreams to some people in the past, but even then, it was a rare occurrence. Hebrews 1:1-2 indicates that the principal way in which God communicates with people today is through Christ via the written Word that God inspired, not through visions or dreams. Additionally, the Scripture advises Christians to be on guard against spirits (fallen angels or demons) that attempt to mislead (1 John 4:1). One of the ways that they deceive people is through paranormal activities.

The Bible talks of some dreams that are deceptive (Jeremiah 23:25-27). Most dreams are a natural part of the sleeping state. The Bible talks about the fleeting and unreal nature of dreams (Psalm 126:1; Isaiah 29:8).

Ecclesiastes 5:3 says, "A dream comes through much activity," implying that normal dreams are natural outgrowths of the stimuli we receive in our waking hours. Dreams could come as a result of our own thoughts, what we hear others say, as well as from material we read or watch (movies or videos).

As Christians, we must guard the information that comes into our minds. If we expose our minds to violence or sexually oriented material, for example, these stimuli can cause unwanted dreams. Paul gives us excellent guidelines on how to orient our thinking in Philippians 4:8: "Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things."

Having done all that we can to ensure that we have a healthy environment and that we think positive thoughts, we can also ask God to bless us with peaceful and restful sleep. Psalm 127:2 says, "He gives His beloved sleep."

Joel did prophesy of a future time, before Jesus Christ's return, when there would be heavenly signs and "your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions" (Joel 2:28-31). The apostle Peter used this prophecy to help explain the special miracles that accompanied the giving of God's Spirit on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2: 15-17). But it is clear from the New Testament example that Christians are to seek God's Word from the inspired Scriptures and sound biblical teaching, not private interpretations (2 Timothy 3:15-17; 4:2-4; 2 Peter 1:20-21).

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