Biblical principles of dream interpretation

20 January 2022

Biblical principles of dream interpretation

Welcome back, my amazing Compadres!

I began this series to flesh out the biblical mysteries about dreams. In my previous blogs, I discussed why we dream, the spiritual meaning of forgetting dreams, and how to break spiritual marriage. I continue in this blog by addressing the biblical principles of dream interpretation. I want to tackle this topic especially because understanding and interpreting dreams seem to many like a giant maze with no apparent end in sight. If you can relate to this, come with me on this adventure. Let’s kick start!

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One of the most dramatic moments in the history of the Church was when the disciples of Jesus were standing heartbroken, looking at their Saviour and friend, who in no time would be ascended to heaven. The words that came out of the mouth of the Lord, arguably still stand as one of the most comforting statements in history.

And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever— the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you. [1]
But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you. [2]
“But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me. [3]
Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you. [4]

Our Personal Tutor

Because the Holy Spirit lives inside of us, every one of us graciously has our own personal Tutor in the ways, the mind, and the heart of God. Jesus proceeded to say;

However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you. [4a]

The Holy Spirit is our Guide through the maze of dream types and sources, and He is our Instructor in dream language. Since He is always with us, He is available all the time, at any time – day or night. When we have questions or need wisdom or knowledge, all we have to do is ask [5]. The bible says,

And you covet something and cannot obtain it; so you engage in disputes and conflicts. You do not have, because you do not ask. [6]
If any of you is lacking in wisdom, ask God, who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly, and it will be given you. [7]

The source of true interpretations

I want to establish unequivocally after all these biblical reflections, that it takes the Spirit of God to give the true meaning of the dreams He gives us. I said in a previous article that the principle of dreams works like the way encryption and decryption works in our world today; God encrypts whatever message He wants to give us and communicates it in a dream to us.

We in turn need to decrypt the message to have a clear understanding. Nevertheless, only the authorised receivers with the right “secret keys” can read the information. This spiritual technique is to keep information from unauthorised threat vectors. Any attempt to receive the true meaning of dreams without the Spirit of God will lead to an inevitable tragic end.

It is said, “to be the best, learn from the best”. There are two remarkable people in the Bible who were vexed in the area of dream and dream interpretations. I believe there is a lot we can learn from them. One of them is Joseph, and he said,

Do not interpretations belong to God? [8]

Also, Daniel, after he was asked by king Nebuchadnezzar, whether or not he (Daniel) would be able to interpret his dream:

Daniel answered the king, “No wise men, enchanters, magicians, or diviners can show to the king the mystery that the king is asking,but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and he has disclosed to King Nebuchadnezzar what will happen at the end of days [9].

God’s perspective

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We must gain God’s perspective on the revelatory information before it becomes most beneficial to us. Even with an accurate dream, it is common for people to wrongly interpret it. There are often symbolic and mysterious elements to dreams. Jesus often spoke in parables to hide the truth so that only those hungry for God would gain understanding [10].

He said, “I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand” (Matt. 13:13). In the same way, the Holy Spirit often speaks to us prophetically in dreams and visions using parables. Only those who are desperate to know God’s heart will understand what He is saying.

Understand the language

Understanding the language of dreams will set the tone for you to interpret your dreams properly or intercede effectively from the posture of revelation. God will speak revelation to you according to the language you speak. Of course, I am not talking so much about languages like English, French, Spanish, etc [11]. This is the language as a result of our worldview. In calling Peter to follow Him, Jesus said, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men [12].” Peter understood the import of the invitation instantly because Jesus spoke in his language.

If you are not born or live in a country where it snows, hardly will you have dreams about snow. Because each of us has different life experiences, the language by which we receive dreams will be distinct to us. We each have a personal walk and, in a sense, a personal talk. Our spiritual alphabet, though similar, is unique to each individual. Regardless of how our individual spiritual alphabets differ, our basic approach to interpretation should be the same [13].

Three steps of dream interpretation

Proper interpretation can occur on many different levels. Here are three simple steps for interpreting your dream revelation:
1. Study the interpretation of words and symbols by researching their meanings as recorded in Scripture and other historical literature. Find out how biblical characters and other figures from the past interpreted these words and symbols in a dream context. This is an excellent (and probably the easiest) way to begin.
2. Develop the habit of journaling. Effective interpretation is a skill that is learned over time and with experience. Your spiritual alphabet is unique to you. Journaling will help you capture your distinct pictures, grant understanding over time, and give wisdom for your journey.
3. Welcome the anointing, gifting, and presence of the Holy Spirit. He will guide you into truth, keeping things safe yet adventurous and pure yet unreligious [14].

In your eagerness to reach step three, don’t jump steps one and two. Always begin with the Scriptures. Let the Bible be its own best commentary. God will never contradict His Word. Let His written Word give you insight into the meaning of His visionary revelation. Study it thoroughly. Pray over it. Lay a solid foundation of the Word in your life to give the Holy Spirit something to breathe upon [15].

Conclusion

The principle of interpreting dreams is like operating a sailboat. There are times you drop the anchor and rest at the harbour. And there are times you you put up the sail and set out to be carried by the wind to new territories. But even when you set out to be carried by the wind, you still go with the anchor. Our anchor in interpreting dreams is the word of God. It is our sure foundation. Whatever we arrive at as the meaning of a dream must not contradict the word. The wind is the Holy Spirit who leads us to new territories that may not necessarily be in the bible. However, even when we feel we are being lead by the Spirit to give meaning to dreams, the word of God should still be our guide.

Thank you for reading. Watch out for my next blog in this series. Subscribe to my newsletter from below, and get notified of new posts. You may also drop a comment or question in the comment section below.

References

[1] John 14:16-18 (NKJV)

[2] John 14:26 (NKJV)

[3] John 15:26 (NKJV)

[4] John 15:26 (NKJV)

[4a] John 16:13-15 (NKJV)

[5] James W. and Michal Ann Goll, Dream Language: The Prophetic Power of Dreams, Revelations and the Spirit of Wisdom, (Shippensburg: Destiny Image Publishers, 2006), 123

[6] James 4:2b

[7] James 1:5

[8] Genesis 40:8

[9] Daniel 2:27-28

[10] Mike Bickle, Growing in the Prophetic: A practical biblical guide to dreams, visions, and spiritual gifts, (Lake Mary: Charisma House, 2008), 25

[11] James and Ann, Dream Language: The Prophetic Power of Dreams, Revelations and the Spirit of Wisdom, 136

[12] Matthew 4:19

[13] James and Ann, Dream Language: The Prophetic Power of Dreams, Revelations and the Spirit of Wisdom, 136

[14] James and Ann, Dream Language: The Prophetic Power of Dreams, Revelations and the Spirit of Wisdom, 137

[15] James and Ann, Dream Language: The Prophetic Power of Dreams, Revelations and the Spirit of Wisdom, 137

Dreams

Samuel Daniels