Does God Speak to us in Dreams? Jer 23.28

(NKJV) “28 “The prophet who has a dream, let him tell a dream; And he who has My word, let him speak My word faithfully. What is the chaff to the wheat?” says the Lord.”

Background

There were false prophets in the days of Jeremiah and they prophesied lies. Their motives were clear, lead the people away from the worship of God as quick as possible using any means necessary.

These false prophets prophesied by Baal instead of God meaning that their motives were selfish instead of holy.

(NKJV) “13 “And I have seen folly in the prophets of Samaria: They prophesied by Baal And caused My people Israel to err.”

These false prophets lived in hypocrisy.

(NKJV) “14 Also I have seen a horrible thing in the prophets of Jerusalem: They commit adultery and walk in lies; They also strengthen the hands of evildoers, So that no one turns back from his wickedness. All of them are like Sodom to Me, And her inhabitants like Gomorrah.”

They purposefully mislead the people.

(NKJV) “17 They continually say to those who despise Me, ‘The Lord has said, “You shall have peace” ’; And to everyone who walks according to the dictates of his own heart, they say, ‘No evil shall come upon you.’ ””

Trying to instill peace upon a people who are warring against God with their sin.

They even used dreams as the source of their inspiration to manipulate the inhabitants of Judah.

(NKJV) “25 “I have heard what the prophets have said who prophesy lies in My name, saying, ‘I have dreamed, I have dreamed!’”

Their purpose was to make the people forget the name of God.

(NKJV) “26 How long will this be in the heart of the prophets who prophesy lies? Indeed they are prophets of the deceit of their own heart, 27 who try to make My people forget My name by their dreams which everyone tells his neighbor, as their fathers forgot My name for Baal.”

If you were part of the congregation, you would simply here this.

I prophesy by Baal that you will have peace and no evil will come upon you.

You will have peace and no evil will come upon you even though you are violating God’s commandments.

I have dreamed, I have dreamed…go ahead, you can have your cake and eat it too.

The prophets were using their position to speak smooth words to the people so they could continue to indulge in sin.

What you wouldn’t hear are the lies the prophets were speaking and their selfish desire to promote the lifestyle they frequently indulged in. You could say that Baal worship allowed them to practice evil and if they had the buy-in from the congregation, there would be no backlash.

It’s clear these false prophets did not fear God nor respect the fact these people are God’s chosen whom He lead out of Egypt for the special purpose of worshipping God and inhabiting the land that God had given them.

There are false prophets today that do not fear God and do not care that God has called you into a relationship with His Son Jesus Christ. They will prey upon us like wolves in sheeps clothing.

So how do we identify false prophets from real prophets?

First we must understand the meaning of prophecy? To prophecy is to communicate a divine message, either of proper behavior or of future events. In other words, you are attributing your words as a divine message for someone else.

Secondly, we must use an authoritative source as a way to distinguish truth from lies. As Christians, our authoritative source is the Bible. So we will use the Bible as our authority to determine whether prophecies are in line with God’s revealed word.

The Biblical Test of a prophet

(NKJV) “22 when a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the thing does not happen or come to pass, that is the thing which the Lord has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him.”

If a prophet makes a prophecy and it does not come to pass, then that prophet is not from God.

Joseph Smith prophecied the temple of God would be built in Missouri in Smith’s generation. In 1833 the Mormons were driven out of Jackson County Missouri and this prophecy was not fullfilled. He also prophesied that Jesus would return in 56 years which would have been fulfilled in 1891. This prophecy was not fulfilled.

Muhammad is cited in the book History of the Tabari Vol 6 page 111, “That evening, Gabriel came to him (Muhammad) and reviewed the surah with him, and when he reached the two phrases which Satan had cast upon his tongue he said, “I did not bring you these two.” Then the messenger of God said, “I have fabricated things against God and have imputed to Him words which He has not spoken.” https://archive.org/stream/TabariEnglish/Tabari_Volume_06#page/n159/mode/2up/search/fabricated

Buy Muhammad’s own testimony, he fabricated prophecies in which had to be corrected. Therefore, Muhammad proves he is not a prophet of God.

Charles Taze Russel the founder of the JW church, prophecied 1914 was going to be the end of the battle of the great day of God almighty. He also prophecied that 1874 was the beginning of the 40 years and the close of 1914 will be the beginning of the great Tribulation trouble.

Since both of these prophecies have not come to pass, Charles Taze Russel is not a prophet of God.

2. If the prophet contradicts speaks contrary to the written word of God, that prophet is not from God.

Abraham ()

Jeremiah ()

King David

Amos ()

Elijah () and Elisha ()

These are just to name a few. There are many many more.

2. If the prophet contradicts speaks contrary to the written word of God, that prophet is not from God.

(NKJV) “16 Thus says the Lord of hosts: “Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you. They make you worthless; They speak a vision of their own heart, Not from the mouth of the Lord.”

(NKJV) “21 “I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran. I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied.”

In other words, if the prophet says it’s ok to commit adultery when the Bible clearly prohibits adultery, then that prophet is not from God.

Who is considered a prophet of God?

Abraham ()

Jeremiah ()

King David

Amos ()

Elijah () and Elisha ()

These are just to name a few. There are many many more.

The false prophets who prophesied lies also claimed divine influence over their dreams. Can we root out dreams as false or does God speak to us in Dreams?

The word dream is used 109 times in 84 verses in the NKJV.

We see examples of God speaking through dreams...

1. to Abimelech regarding not touching Abraham’s wife. ()

2. Jacob dreamed about a ladder that angels used to go from heaven to earth. ()

3. An angel of God spoke to Jacob in a dream where Jacob replied here I am. ()

4. Joseph dreamed about ruling over his family including his older brothers ().

5. Sometimes dreams are given for other people to interpret

Nebuchadnezzer’s dream. (NKJV) “6 However, if you tell the dream and its interpretation, you shall receive from me gifts, rewards, and great honor. Therefore tell me the dream and its interpretation.”” Daniel would not only reveal the dream, but also the interpretation.

Sometimes, when we dream, we are not given the interpretation because God wants to use another person to provide the interpretation.

I had a dream when entering into ministry here at CCN.

Based on the Biblical passages above, it is clear that God does speak to us in dreams. But how do we know if a dream is inspired by God or inspired by that extra slice of pizza we had last night?

We use the same guidelines as for prophets.

If a dream doesn’t come to pass, then it was not of the Lord.

If our dream contradicts the Bible, then it is not of the Lord.

If the interpreter contradicts the Bible, then they are not of the Lord.

Don’t force a prophecy to come true, God will orchestrate it in His time. Look at the example of Joseph who could not possibly have orchestrated fulfillment of His dream.

5. (NKJV) “17 ‘And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your young men shall see visions, Your old men shall dream dreams. 18 And on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days; And they shall prophesy.”

We are living in the last days, so we should have the expecation that our sons and daughters will prophesy, our young men shall see visions and our old men shall dream dreams. Men and women will prophesy in the last days!

Does God still use dreams? Absolutely and He will continue to do so. Let’s make sure to use the Bible as our authority and measure all prophecies against the Bible!

(NKJV) “21 “I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran. I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied.”