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THE NORTHERN KENTUCKY SEARCHER VOLUME 5, NUMBER 13, APRIL 3, 2005 DREAMS This past week has been one of the most uncomfortable, yet somehow fascinating, weeks of my life. I had been on a particular medication for about eight years, and for the last little bit of time it has been a very high dosage. It had become apparent that the medication was not working as effectively as it used to, so it was decided to make a change. Two different doctors told me that making the change could be rough but neither one of them really did it justice. It was horrendous. Last week was characterized by a terrible headache, rooms swirling around due to constant dizziness and the accompanying nausea, constantly being tired – and most interesting of all – vivid, frightening, lifelike dreams. I saw stuff that I had never seen before and people that I had not seen or thought about for years. Even as I reread this paragraph I don’t believe that I am doing justice to what those dreams were really like. Anyway, coming out on the other side of what I guess could only be called withdrawal, I find myself thinking back on those dreams. Now, I never remember dreams, but I remember some of these. It got me to thinking about the dreams we read of in the scriptures. Contrary to what might be a commonly held view, overall the Bible attaches little religious significance to dreams; however, there were times when dreams were used as a method of communication from God to man. In the Old Testament the two books in which dreams play a significant role are the books of Genesis and Daniel. In Genesis 15 we see an account of land promise portion of the covenant that God made with Abraham, Abram at the time. In it God uses a dream in a most powerful way. Let’s look at verses 7-17. It says, “And He said to him, I am the Lord who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to possess it. And he said, O Lord God, how may I know that I shall possess it? So He said to him, Bring Me a three year old heifer, and a three year old female goat, and a three year old ram, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon. Then he brought all these to Him and cut them in two, and laid each half opposite the other; but he did not cut the birds. And the birds of prey came down upon the carcasses, and Abram drove them away. Now when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, terror and great darkness fell upon him. And God said to Abram, Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, where they will be enslaved and oppressed four hundred years. But I will also judge the nation whom they will serve; and afterward they will come out with many possessions. And as for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried at a good old age. Then in the fourth generation they shall return here, for the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet complete. And it came about when the sun had set, that it was very dark, and behold, there appeared a smoking oven and a flaming torch which passed between the pieces.” What a fascinating account this is! Here is a marvelous example of the land promise part of the covenant and its ratification. First, we see a beautiful act of condescension on God’s part. Let me explain that. God calls for the preparation of a sealing rite. This was the fashion of covenants in those days. Animals were taken, divided in half, and placed opposite each other. Then the parties involved in the covenant would walk between them. The significance of walking between the animals was a self-malediction. In other words, it was to say, “May this terrible fate befall me if I fail to keep the promise I have made.” Here God bows to give Abram a ratification that he would be familiar with. I find that amazing. At the same time, the act of ratification is seen in a dream. We find another interesting use of dreams in Gen. 20: 1-7. Here was a case where Abraham told a half-truth, meant to deceive Abimelech, the king of Gerar, about Sarah. Look at verses 2-7. “And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, She is my sister.” So Abimelech king of Gerar sent and took Sarah. But God came to Abimelech in a dream of the night, and said to him, Behold, you are a dead man because of the woman whom you have taken, for she is married. Now Abimelech had not come near her; and he said, Lord, wilt Thou slay a nation, even though blameless? Did he not himself say to me, She is my sister? And she herself said, He is my brother. In the integrity of my heart and the innocence of my hands I have done this. Then God said to him in the dream, Yes, I know that in the integrity of your heart you have done this, and I also kept you from sinning against Me; therefore I did not let you touch her. Now therefore, restore the man’s wife, for he is a prophet, and he will pray for you, and you will live. But if you do not restore her, know that you shall surely die, you and all who are yours.” Surely all Bible students remember the role that dreams played in the life of Joseph, Jacob’s son. In Genesis 37, we read of his dreams concerning the sheaves of the field that his brothers had made, bowing down to the sheaf that he had made. We read also of the sun, moon, and eleven stars bowing down to him. These predictive dreams would come true when Joseph had risen to second in all of Egypt and his family was forced to come to him for food. In Genesis 40, Joseph was able to interpret the dreams of the Pharaoh’s butler and baker. In chapter 41, Joseph’s interpretation of Pharaoh’s dream is what brought him to his position of prominence in the land. Joseph recognized that it was God giving him the interpretation and no power of his own. We find the account of another very important dream in 1 Kings 3. In verse 5 we read, “In Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream at night; and God said, Ask what you wish me to give to you.” That was the time Solomon requested, “an understanding heart to judge Thy people to discern between good and evil.” Thus, the young king Solomon was granted his wisdom. To be continued…. Greg Litmer |