In the Bible, God spoke through dreams at specific moments, but most dreams come from the day’s concerns, and there is no dictionary of symbols. When a dream came from God, so did its meaning — “Do not interpretations belong to God?”, Joseph asked. That is why this page does not interpret specific dreams.
For a dream cometh through the multitude of business; and a fool's voice is known by multitude of words.
The Teacher observes something everyone knows: “a dream cometh through the multitude of business”. Most of the time, dreaming about something shows what is on your mind — not a hidden message.
Read the chapter →And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, I have dreamed a dream, and there is none that can interpret it: and I have heard say of thee, that thou canst understand a dream to interpret it. And Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying, It is not in me: God shall give Pharaoh an answer of peace.
God really did speak through dreams at decisive moments in Joseph’s life — in his own, as a young man (Genesis 37), and in Pharaoh’s. But before the king, Joseph refuses the role of professional interpreter: “It is not in me”; the answer would come from God.
Read the chapter →Daniel answered in the presence of the king, and said, The secret which the king hath demanded cannot the wise men, the astrologers, the magicians, the soothsayers, shew unto the king;
Faced with a dream that drove sleep from the king, Daniel says no expert — wise men, astrologers, magicians or soothsayers — could explain it. He then points to the God in heaven who reveals secrets, and insists the answer did not come from any wisdom of his own (2:28-30).
Read the chapter →But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.
In the New Testament, Joseph of Nazareth is told in a dream to take Mary as his wife, and later receives other warnings to protect the child (Matthew 2:13, 19-20). The message was clear and needed no interpreter.
Read the chapter →I have heard what the prophets said, that prophesy lies in my name, saying, I have dreamed, I have dreamed. How long shall this be in the heart of the prophets that prophesy lies? yea, they are prophets of the deceit of their own heart; Which think to cause my people to forget my name by their dreams which they tell every man to his neighbour, as their fathers have forgotten my name for Baal. The prophet that hath a dream, let him tell a dream; and he that hath my word, let him speak my word faithfully. What is the chaff to the wheat? saith the LORD.
God denounces prophets who said “I have dreamed, I have dreamed” to speak in his name what came from their own hearts. A dream and the word of God are not the same thing: “What is the chaff to the wheat?”
Read the chapter →If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder, And the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them; Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the LORD your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
Even a dreamer whose sign comes true must be rejected if he leads people to other gods. The test is not whether the dream comes true, but whether it agrees with what God has already revealed.
Read the chapter →And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams:
At Pentecost, Peter quotes the prophet Joel (Joel 2:28): when the Spirit is poured out, “your old men shall dream dreams”. It is the text behind the belief that God can still speak through dreams — always within what Scripture teaches.
Read the chapter →Pentecostals and charismatics believe God can still speak through dreams, as promised in Joel 2:28 and Acts 2:17, but they ask that every dream be tested by Scripture and weighed with discernment, never turned into doctrine. Cessationists — common among Reformed and traditional Baptist churches — hold that the revelation that guides the church was completed in Christ and the Scriptures (Hebrews 1:1-2); many allow that God, in his providence, may use a dream to move someone, but not to give new authoritative revelation. Common ground: no one needs to pay to understand a dream, and no dream stands above the Word.
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