My last two dreams have raised an issue for me. It’s not the first time it’s happened to me. How much importance should be given to a dream? Is it really God speaking? I noticed a podcast on dreams and visions from the Bible Project guys. I’ve written about it further on in this post and it relates to how dreams are processed and whether God is speaking.
The issue I refer to comes from a dream where I was influenced by something I read. A collection of news articles from a Christian newspaper. The dream seems to have pulled together lots of different threads from that and a some other references in my life and created a coherent story.
The issue is about being concerned about what others will think about what I write. Is it really the Lord speaking? Or is it something I want to say? I guess I have to leave it down to Him whether He is speaking or not. I am a channel, a mouth piece. Maybe this is what Jesus and the apostles mean when they use the phrase ‘”…if you have ears to hear..”‘. A phrase that needs some deeper consideration than I can give here. I shall touch on it in a small way though.
When I typed the phrase ears to hear into a Bible search the first scripture that came up was:
‘Ears that hear and eyes that see– the LORD has made them both’.
Proverbs 20.12
Why highlight that fact? Does it not go without saying? Or does this mean more?
The first three cross references connected to that verse in the Christian Standard Bible (CSB) talk about Yahweh using our ears. One in Exodus 4.11-17 about Moses asking to send someone else to speak and the other two are in:
Psalm 94:9 (CSB): Can the one who shaped the ear not hear,the one who formed the eye not see?
Proverbs 29:13 (CSB): The poor and the oppressor have this in common: the Lord gives light to the eyes of both.
With the eye it’s about more than light hitting your retina and with the ear more than sound waves hitting the ear drum. Similarly then, the things I hear and see in dreams and visions is more than just my imagination scrambling things together. Especially when they form a very coherent pattern which is telling a story or a parable.
The note in the Faithlife Study Bible says what I am thinking in its own way:
Proverbs 20:12 (FSB): 20:12 Indicates perceptive listening and seeing, not just sensory ability.
The Bible Project guys say that we in the west think that dreams are a window into ourselves but other cultures still think that dreams are a window to outside of our world. An altered state of consciousness that potentially reveals the true nature of the world. They talk about that here (about 40 mins) in reference to the last book of the Bible – Revelation. The podcast helpfully starts with a conversation about dreams and visions.
Further listening of the podcast around 19 minutes in the presenters talk about the word apocalypse and what it sums up in their minds. As I listened to that part a little light bulb went on in regards to my most recent dream that I referred to at the start of this post. More of that in the next post.