Does God communicate with us today through dreams? Before the Bible was completed, God used various methods to give special messages or to reveal truth, including dreams. I write about this in the post, Revelation of God.
We know that God has used dreams in the past. So the questions is, are dreams still used by God during our day?
New Testament
In the New Testament era, just six dreams are recorded for us, all in Matthew. Dreams were given to:
- Joseph four times, Matthew 1:20, 2:13, 2:19, and 2:22;
- The magi, Matthew 2:12, and;
- Pilate’s wife, Matthew 27:19
With the completion of the Bible, God no longer needed to use dreams to give us truth about Himself. In fact, none of the dreams recorded for us in the New Testament were to reveal truth about God. They fell into two categories; four dreams were warnings, and two dreams were an ‘OK to proceed’ message.
Why Dreams?
Since God does not need to use dreams for new revelation about Himself, what is the purpose of dreams? The Bible does not tell us why we dream or what we should do about them. The Bible treats them as part of life and leaves it at that.
Dreams do give us evidence of an aspect of life that cannot be explained by physical properties alone. Dreams reveal to us an unconscious, immaterial aspect to our humanity that cannot be explained by science.
In spite of us not knowing why we have dreams, or having much biblical information about them, folks still try to apply the little we do know from the Bible in an effort to explain our dreaming. This is where we must proceed with caution.
The remainder of this paper will therefore examine the one passage that talks about God using dreams in the last days. We are in the last days, so this applies to us.
The Joel Passage
There is only one passage used to explain modern day dreams, which is from the prophet Joel. In Joel 2:28-32, the prophet says,
“It will come about after this
That I will pour out My Spirit on all mankind;
And your sons and daughters will prophesy,
Your old men will dream dreams,
Your young men will see visions.
Even on the male and female servants
I will pour out My Spirit in those days.
I will display wonders in the sky and on the earth,
Blood, fire and columns of smoke.
The sun will be turned into darkness
And the moon into blood
Before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes.
And it will come about that whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be delivered.”
Peter’s Usage
Peter refers to the Joel passage in Acts 2. The Holy Spirit had just been poured out on the disciples and they were speaking in many different languages. In verse 11 of Acts 2, the hearers say that “…we hear them in our own tongues speaking of the mighty deeds of God.”
Peter quotes the passage from Joel and says that what the hearers had observed was spoken of through the prophet. Peter then goes on to explain that Jesus was resurrected and that they had received the promised Holy Spirit. Peter says, “He has poured forth this which you both see and hear.”1
Peter does not specifically say that the Joel passage was fulfilled. But, that the pouring out of the Spirit, “is what was spoken of through the prophet Joel.”2 The sign of speaking in tongues is evidence of God at work through His Spirit. It was given as proof to the people that God was now working through His servant, Jesus, as Peter explains in his sermon.
Dr. Irvin Busenitz evaluates Peter’s use of this passage at Pentecost and comes to the same conclusion:
“Only two points of contact are found [between Joel’s prophecy and Pentecost]: God’s Spirit was poured out, and those who called upon the name of the Lord were saved. Consequently, it appears best to view Joel’s prophecy as fulfilled in a preliminary fashion at the time of Pentecost, with a complete fulfillment reserved for the time surrounding the Second Advent.”3
When Peter quotes Joel, we do not have some of the elements mentioned to indicate that we are in the Second Advent.4 Some of the things missing are the “wonders in the sky and on the earth, blood, fire and columns of smoke. The sun will be turned into darkness and the moon into blood.”5
Future Fulfillment
So the more strict fulfillment of Joel’s prophecy would be for a later time yet to come. Joel specifically says that it will be the “great and awesome day of the Lord.” (2:31) When Peter quotes the passage, he starts the quote saying, “It shall be in the last days,” agreeing with the timing of Joel.
Commentators typically start the beginning of the ‘last days’ with the sacrifice of the Messiah, and the ‘day of the Lord’ being the time of Jesus’ return at His Second Advent in the last days.
James Burton Coffman comments, “The Judgment Day will finally occur, and it will, in all probability, be ushered in by these same portents, on a cosmic scale, of which the occurrences known to Peter and the people who heard him were only the dim and feeble types.”6
Applications of Joel
For Christians
Some would say that our modern day ‘Christian’ dreams are part of the fulfillment of Joel. But the passage gives no hint that God wants to enlighten us or give guidance to believers by using dreams. That is what we have the Bible, prayer, and wise counsel for.
For Non-believers
Some use Joel to say that God is drawing people to Himself by giving dreams to unbelievers. Nothing in the Joel passage gives us an indication that this is for unbelievers. Additionally, God does not give the Holy Spirit to those who do not believe in Him.
However, I cannot argue against the anecdotal evidence of God giving dreams to unbelievers to bring them to Him. Indeed, I have written about this in my article, Muslim Dreams. But Joel does not speak of these dreams being used in this way.
Whether it is believers or non-believers, God is certainly free to use any method He chooses to bring people to Himself, or to give guidance. It is not up to me to limit God. But using Joel or Peter’s quote of Joel for either of these applications goes beyond the point of the verses.
For the World
I think that the point of the passage in Joel is to call attention to the wondrous majesty of God, our Creator. God will pour out His spirit:
- to such a degree, (on all mankind);
- to so many different people, (sons, daughters, old men, young men, male and female servants); and,
- in such a manner, (prophecies, dreams, visions);
that it will get the attention of the world!
Plus, there will be other great and dramatic events given as signs:
- Wonders in the sky and on earth
- The sun turned to darkness
- The moon turned to blood
- Fire and columns of smoke
God often uses wondrous signs to inform the world of special events. Based on what will be happening, this will truly be a special event! That is the thrust of Joel and the application of the passage that Peter uses in Acts 2.
Conclusion
It is possible that God might use dreams to help us solve problems and give us direction in our lives. But instead of looking to dreams, the Bible is our authoritative source for learning about God and trusting Him. As Charles Ryrie summarizes, “Special revelation as now recorded in the Bible furnishes the content of God’s message to the world.”7
Therefore I would say that at a minimum, the following two requirements should be in place concerning our modern day dreams:
- If one has a dream or vision, it must not contradict God’s Word, the Bible.
- We should not depend upon dreams, but put our faith in Jesus.
There is no biblical prohibition against having dreams and drawing near to God because of those dreams. But dreams are unreliable and could also lead us away from God because every dream is not from God. (I explain more about their unreliability in my paper, Dreams, Visions, and Trances.)
Ecclesiastes 5:7 “For in many dreams and in many words there is emptiness. Rather, fear God.”
1 Acts 2:33
2 Acts 2:16
3 https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/commentary/joel/#section-22 1/24/23. Commentary on Joel, section 22, under the question, “How does Peter use Joel 2:28–32 at Pentecost?”
4 The Second Advent is when Jesus comes back at the end of the seven year Great Tribulation.
5 Joel 2:30, 31
6 Coffman’s Commentaries on the Bible
7 Charles C. Ryrie, Basic Theology, (Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 1986), 74