Today's post is an offshoot of this previous post. While the past post is of a slightly different flavor, it does deal superficially with the nature and origin of dreams.
I, like most Christians, would absolutely love to have God communicate with me directly and specifically, telling me exactly what He wanted me to do.
However, I am quite convinced that this is not going to happen. As I stated in my first "Dreams of the divine" post,
"God doesn't work that way anymore."
Since writing that, I have had several conversations, an IM session or two, and various other exchanges on the subject. I have thoroughly enjoyed them, even when I was brought to points where I simply had to shrug and say, "I don't know." Like the Scriptural speculation I find so compelling, these discussions have forced me to delve deeply into the Bible to verify that what I believe is in fact Bible-based and Biblically defensible. Here, then, is my defense of the statement that God no longer speaks through dreams, visions, and other such means.
The Closed Canon
One of the strongest arguments against the legitimacy of modern "revelatory dreams" is the closing of the canon. While an individualized message from God might seem very desirable, it is not necessary, since according to II Peter 1:3-4, He has provided all that we need for life through His written Word. Some interpret these verses to mean that God has provided all that we need in the person of Jesus, which is indeed true. However, the verse states specifically that "all things" come through the knowledge of Him instead of simply stating that all things come through Him. This may be a stretch, reading into the English something that is not there in the original language. Without knowledge of Greek, I cannot speak authoritatively as to which interpretation of this verse (the Bible or the person of Christ) is closer to the Greek. Even if this verse does refer to the person of Christ, however, it is still through the Bible that we learn of Him (Romans 10:17), so the end result is the same: the Bible is our sole and sufficient authority in all spiritual matters.
Other verses speak to this same issue. While dreams are not specifically mentioned, I Corinthians 13:8 states that there would come a time when the prophetic gifts (of which dreams are a subset) would cease in and of themselves. This was to happen when "...that which is perfect is come" (I Corinthians 13:10) Again, some may see this as a reference to the person of Christ, and again I do not have the Greek background to tell whether this is a grammatical possibility. In the English versions I examined, however, no personal pronoun was ever present, lending credence to the fact that "that which is perfect" refers to the completed canon. Once the Bible was completed with the last stroke of John's quill on Patmos, divine dreams were no longer needed. This is why Revelation 22:18 contains an admonition not to add anything more; the written Word was finished.
The Danger of Dreams
What about dreams that are of a spiritual nature? From John Bunyan's opening to Pilgrim's Progress (which I always took to be simply a part of the story, since dreams are rarely if ever as detailed as Bunyan's account) to "the Jesus dream" supposedly being experienced by unevangelized Muslims in closed countries, many people have claimed nocturnal messages from God, sometimes with positive spiritual results. Surely these must be from God, right? My answer to such a query would be an infuriatingly noncommittal "Yes and no." If God were to send a dream to a person, the content of that dream would be on par with Scripture and should logically be added to the Bible as being of coequal authority with the writings of Moses, Matthew, Paul, and the rest. However, since the Bible is a complete entity (and has been for 1900-some years), dreams of a spiritual nature must be eliminated as direct revelation. While I will not presume to speak for all cases, my guess would be that in most cases, the dreamer would admit to thinking/meditating on the spiritual matter about which they then dreamt, a practice which is Scripturally commended (Psalm 1:2). Thus, the dream would be from God, but only in the sense that all things come from God, the Sovereign controller of all and the source of every good and perfect gift. (James 1:17).
Additionally, we must consider the fact that human experience is untrustworthy and unreliable. The senses can be deceived purposely (just ask David Copperfield or David Blane) or the information they receive accurately can be misinterpreted (just ask the 6 blind men of Indostan).
The very fact that scientists, the modern masters of observation, are still making discoveries and are constantly having to revise previous theories bears out this fact. If senses and the conscious mind -- which humans actively control -- are unreliable, how much more must the subconscious -- the origin of dreams and the part of the mind over which we have no direct, active control -- be suspect. Add into the mix a malevolent being who delights in imitating the work of God, and the authenticity of extrabiblical nocturnal revelations becomes even more suspect. For every John Bunyan there is a Joseph Smith, claiming the guidance of dreams, visions, and angels of light (II Corinthians 11:14).
Knowing our fallibility, God gave us an inerrant written record which its human writers recognized as far more authoritative than any human experience (Galatians 1:8-9), even if they themselves were the ones who had experienced the occurrences.
II Peter 1:16-19 For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he received from God the Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. And this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with him in the holy mount. We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts:
A further point to ponder is the fleeting nature of dreams. The very fact that God saw fit to reveal Himself to mankind through nature, the Bible, and the person of His Son makes it clear that He wants His message to be easily accessible and clearly understandable to all. Oftentimes dreams are neither accessible nor understandable. If a dream does survive the waking process and remain in the conscious mind, it is often garbled, disconnected, and incoherent. This hardly sounds like the way the God of order (I Corinthians 14:33) would operate. Admittedly, some of the Old Testament prophets had some rather bizarre dreams and/or visions, but a divine, clear translation was usually quickly provided directly to the prophets. In cases where God sent dreams to those who were not chosen Old Testament prophets (like the Pharaoh in Genesis 41:1a, 25 or Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 2:1, 29), God provided the translation indirectly through the prophets (Genesis 41:15-16; Daniel 2:27-30). Seeing the distress that the aforementioned monarchs went through because of their perplexing dreams, and knowing that there are no Old Testament prophets available today, I am rather glad that God is not going to send me any important dreamail while I sleep tonight.
Fulfilled, but not Fully
No diatribe on dreams would be complete without a treatment of Joel 2:28-32.
And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions: And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit. And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of the LORD come. And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the LORD hath said, and in the remnant whom the LORD shall call.
Of particular interest to us in this passage is the promise that dreams and visions would accompany the pouring out of God's Spirit on all flesh. The future tense in the prophecy makes it obvious that it was something that had not happened yet in Joel's time. While the Holy Spirit came upon certain Old Testament individuals (Judges 15:14; I Samuel 11:6; I Samuel 16:13), it was not a permanent arrangement (Judges 16:20; I Samuel 16:14; Psalm 51:11). Christ too received the sanction of the Holy Spirit (Matthew 3:16-17), but several times during His 3-year ministry He made it clear that a major part of the Holy Spirit's role in the Father's plan was yet to come (Luke 24:49; John 14:16-17; John 14:26; John 15:26, John 16:7-13). The last such reference, found in Acts 1:5,8, was fulfilled a mere 10 days and 18 verses later when the Holy Spirit descended on the Day of Pentecost. A major feature of this day was Peter's sermon (Acts 2:14-36), and the opening text for this sermon was none other than Joel 2:28-32.
Peter stated in no uncertain terms that the prophecy of Joel was being fulfilled at that moment in front of the eyes of the wondering crowd. The Holy Spirit had at last come, available not just to a select few anointed servants of Jehovah, but available to all who would call on Him. In light of this prophesied event, it would at first seem that anyone who accepts this gift of the Holy Spirit can expect visions, dreams, prophecies, and other wondrous manifestations of the Comforter's power. Further examination, however, reveals some holes in this line of logic.
The first hole centers around one short phrase: "pour out my Spirit on all flesh." While the Day of Pentecost did indeed entail the pouring out of the Spirit, it is important to note that this outpouring was only upon a select few. Only the 120-or-so who were followers of Jesus experienced the flames of fire, the speaking in tongues, and the other indications of the new phase in God's plan. The crowd which came to witness them was not affected, as evidenced by the fact that they noticed nothing extraordinary in each other as they discussed the odd behavior of the group of Galileans before them (Acts 2:7-13). If Pentecost were indeed a complete fulfillment of Joel's prophecy, then Peter would not have had to urge the crowd to repent in order to receive the Holy Ghost (Acts 2:38), since they would have already received Him.
The second hole in the Prophesied Dreams theory is much like the first in that it too points out that Pentecost could not be a complete fulfillment of the prophecy in Joel's writings. While the promised act of prophesying (in this case forth-telling as opposed to foretelling) did in fact occur at Pentecost, the heavenly signs (Joel 2:30-31; Acts 2:19-20) did not. In fact, these celestial signs are the signs for the beginning of the Great and Terrible Day of the Lord, a.k.a. the Great Tribulation. The church and humanity as a whole may be in the Last Days (II Timothy 3:1-5; II Peter 3:3-7 -- Can we say "evolution" and "uniformitarianism"?), but the Great and Terrible Day of the Lord is still future (II Thessalonians 2:2-3), and so must be the complete and ultimate fulfillment of Joel's prophecy. Joel's prophecy, while just as sure to come true as any other prophecy from God, is not a proof text validating the legitimacy of revelatory dreams in our modern era.
A third hole in the theory at hand appears when we take a closer look at both Peter's and Joel's audience. Taken in historical context, both Joel's prophecy and Peter's sermon were given to the Jews. It is the Jews and only the Jews who received the promise of dreams, visions, and prophecies to come. Assuredly all that is left of humanity after the desolation and restoration of Israel (as described in the first part of Joel chapter 2) can look forward to the pouring out of the Holy Spirit. However, the supernatural signs are promised only to those of the Jewish nation, a nation that has demanded similar signs many times throughout history (Exodus 4:1-9; Matthew 12:38-39; Mark 8:11-12; John 4:48; I Corinthians 1:22). Even if dreams were valid form of divine communication in modern times, Joel's prophecy indicates that only those of Jewish descent could be recipients of such dreams. The many Gentile believers who use Joel 2 as a validation text for their "divine dreams" are actually disqualified by the very passage which they use to support their theory.
Limiting the Lord
One of the conversations I mentioned at the beginning of this post presented me with a very challenging observation. The other party agreed with me that the Bible contains all that we need to guide us in life, making revelatory dreams unnecessary. However, they pointed out that "God could use dreams if He wanted to."
That stumped me, because I realized that they were completely correct. If God wanted to send someone a message in a dream tonight, I certainly did not want to be the little peon who stood up to Him and said "You can't do that, God!" He is God; He can do whatever He so desires, and no amount of human logic will stop Him (Job 38:1-42:6; Isaiah 55:8-9; Romans 9:19-20; Romans 11:33-34). Who am I, a mere mortal, to tell God what He cannot or will not do?
It occurred to me after further contemplation, however, that there are Scriptural precedents for situations like this. Simply put, just because God can do something does not mean that He will do it. He does only what is consistent with His nature and plan. God could have prevented sin from ever entering His creation, but His plan involved the granting of free will to both angels and humans, and He did not interfere even when Lucifer chose to entertain and then act upon rebellious thoughts (Isaiah 14:12-15) or when Adam and Eve chose to disobey His garden rules (Genesis 3:6-11). Jesus, the Creator of all (John 1:3), could have turned stones into bread during His desert temptation (Matthew 4:3-4), but He refrained because that was not God's plan for that time. He also could have summoned a massive army of angelic warriors to deliver Him in the Garden of Gethsemane (Matthew 26:53-54) or descended from the cross in a spectacular display of Messianic might (Matthew 27:41-43), but He did not do so because that was not what God's plan dictated that He do.
It is never a case of a mortal or mortal logic (even Scripture-based logic) limiting God; the cessation of dreams, like the other examples above, is a case of God limiting Himself. His reason for doing so is the same as it has always been: it is not part of His plan at this time.
God has used many methods, including dreams, to communicate with people in the past (Hebrews 1:1-2). However, with the completed work of Jesus (John 19:30; Hebrews 10:12) and the completion of the inspired written Word of God (I Peter 1:3-4; Revelation 22:18) through which we learn about Him (John 20:31, Romans 10:17), we have a sure, infallible witness (II Timothy 3:16; II Peter 1:19) that makes divine dreams unnecessary.
Sleep well tonight.
