Genesis 37

Let’s talk about dreams and visions. God used dreams and visions (visions are “waking dreams” to communicate with his people.

What’s the difference between the two? A dream occurs while you are asleep. There are vivid dreams that some people experience when they are in the process of falling sleep or waking up. These can appear to be very real, as when someone claims to have been abducted by aliens and taken onto their spaceship. These are called hypnogogic hallucinations.

Visions occur while you are wide awake. Now if you were to go to your doctor and say, “Hey Doc, I had this vision and I heard this voice that identified itself as God and he told me do so such and such . .” what would he do next? He would quickly reach for his prescription pad and write a prescription for an antipsychotic medication. He would then make a note in your chart that you are suffering from auditory and visual hallucinations and might diagnose you with schizophrenia. If you want to see a ten minute video of a street person with schizophrenia, who experiences hallucinations and has delusions, you can watch this YouTube video: In it you will see a person who claims that his “Scriptures” are so much better than what is in the Bible. He has claimed to be God, Jesus, and Buddha. Some in his neighborhood think he has almost become a holy man or sorts.

Just because hallucinations can be a sign of mental illness, does not mean that all visions are a symptom of mental illness. They can be from God. Visions seem to have been common enough in the Old Testament that their lack was sorely noted. An absence of visions was due at times to a shortage of prophets (1 Samuel 3:1) and other times due to the disobedience of God’s people (1 Samuel 28:6).

How many dreams/visions can you remember from the Bible? Here’s a partial list:

Abraham (Genesis 15:1): God used a vision to restate the Abrahamic Covenant.

Abimelech (Genesis 20:1-7): Abimelech took Sarah into his harem, but God sent him a dream telling him not to touch Sarah because she was Abraham’s wife. The king returned Sarah to her husband the next morning.

Jacob (Genesis 28:10-17): Jacob fled Esau’s anger, and on his journey, he had his famous dream of a ladder reaching to heaven on which angels ascended and descended.

Joseph (Genesis 37:1-11): Joseph dreamed that his family would one day bow to him in respect.

Pharaoh’s cupbearer and baker (Genesis 40): While in prison Joseph interpreted some dreams of Pharaoh’s cupbearer and baker.

Pharaoh (Genesis 41): Two years later, Pharaoh himself had a dream which Joseph interpreted.

Samuel (1 Samuel 3): Samuel had a vision that judgment was coming upon the sons of Samuel’s mentor, Eli.

The Midianite and Amalekite armies (Judges 7:12-15): The pagan enemies of Israel had a divinely inspired dream. God told Gideon to sneak into the enemy camp at night, and there in the outposts of the camp, Gideon overheard an enemy soldier relate a dream he had just had.

Solomon (1 Kings 3:5): It was in a dream that God gave Solomon the famous offer: "Ask what you wish Me to give you." Solomon chose wisdom.

Daniel (Daniel 2; 4): As He had done for Joseph, God placed Daniel in a position of power and influence by allowing him to interpret a foreign ruler’s dream. This is consistent with God’s propensity to use miracles to identify His messengers. Daniel himself had many dreams and visions, mostly related to future kingdoms of the world and the nation of Israel.

The Book of Zechariah is a series of visions used to rebuke the people of Judah.

God used visions and dreams to identify Jesus and to establish His church.

Zacharias (Luke 1:5-23): God used a vision to tell Zacharias, that he would soon have an important son, John the Baptist.

Joseph (Matthew 1:20; 2:13): God sent an angel to him in a dream, convincing him that Mary’s pregnancy was of God.

Pilate’s wife (Matthew 27:19): During Jesus’ trial, Pilate’s wife sent an urgent message, prompted by a dream, to the governor encouraging him to free Jesus.

Ananias (Acts 9:10): A vision from God led Ananias to visit Paul.

Cornelius (Acts 10:1-6): Cornelius saw an angel who told him where to find Simon Peter and to send for him and listen to his message.

Peter (Acts 10:9-15): While Peter was praying on the rooftop of a house in Joppa, God gave him a vision of animals lowered in something like a sheet. A voice from heaven told Peter to kill the animals (some of which were unclean) and eat them. 

Paul: Paul had several visions in his missionary career. One sent him to preach in Macedonia (Acts 16:9-10). Another encouraged him to keep preaching in Corinth (Acts 18:9-11). God also gave him a vision of heaven (2 Corinthians 12:1-6).

John (Revelation): Nearly the entire book of Revelation is a vision John had while exiled on the island of Patmos. John’s vision explains in more detail some of the events that God had shown Daniel.

Are you surprised as to how many there were?

With the completion of the Bible, God does not have to use dreams and visions as much as He did before. That is not to say that He cannot or does not; God can communicate with us however He chooses. In Hebrews 1:1-2 it says, “In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways (such as dreams and visions), but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son.” These “last days” has been defined as the time since the death of Jesus to his return. We are living in the “last days,” though we don’t know how close to the very end we are at today. But when we have a decision to make, our first stop should always be the Bible, not a dream or the claims of someone who has had a vision.

In Catholic tradition, there are many reported occurrences of visions or apparitions of Mary, angels, and/or saints appearing and delivering a message from God. It is possible that, at least in some of these cases, the people were genuinely seeing something supernatural. While some of what is seen in various places is perhaps the work of charlatans, or as they are sometimes called, “pious frauds.” This is a hoax perpetrated on the public for what is thought to be a noble cause. A lie that is told for a good purpose, such as strengthening one’s faith. However, an apparition, even an authentic one, does not mean it is a message from God or a genuine appearance of Mary, an angel, or a saint. Scripture declares that Satan and his demons masquerade as angels of light (2 Corinthians 11:14-15). I John 4:1 tells us, “Do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.”

We should be discerning when people make claims of visions, etc. The only way to determine whether a vision is from God is to compare the message with Scripture.

A famous vision was experienced by three girls in 1917 in Fatima, Portugal. We know that children oftentimes have vivid imaginations and can be led to believe they perceived something by way of the power of suggestion, just as false memories are implanted in children by adults.

Skeptics of these visions say that the messages of Fatima have some unbiblical aspects to them and should be viewed with caution. Among the questionable aspects is the fact that Mary is referred to as having an "Immaculate Heart." By this Catholics believe she was saved from sin in every form through having been conceived in her mother’s womb without the stain of original sin. But the Bible never refers to Mary as being sinless or having an immaculate heart. Rather, Mary refers to God as her Savior (Luke 1:47). This places her with the rest of humanity, as a sinner needing a Savior. All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Rom 3:10, 3:23).

In this apparition Mary is referred to as the “Mother of God” and are told that we should pray the rosary to bring salvation to people. Praying the rosary includes the statement, “Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death.” But scripture teaches that there is only one mediator between man and God, that is Jesus, not Mary. And never do we see in Scripture anyone asking Mary or a saint to pray for us. Rather, Scripture directs us to pray to God (Luke 11:1-2; Matthew 6:6-9; Philippians 4:6; Acts 8:22; Luke 10:2, etc.). God entreats us to come boldly unto the throne of grace (His throne) that we may find grace and help in time of need (Hebrews 4:14-16). God promised us that the Holy Spirit makes intercession for us (Romans 8:26). Concerning prayer, we have the repeated example of two things in Scripture:

a) Prayer is made to God alone (2 Corinthians 13:7; Romans 10:1; 15:30; Acts 12:5; Acts 10:2; Acts 8:24; Acts 1:24; Zechariah 8:21-22; Jonah 2:7; 4:2, etc.)

b) Requests for prayer are made only to the living (1 Thessalonians 5:25; 2 Thessalonians 3:1; Hebrews 13:18, etc.)

Then there are the televangelists and faith healers who make claims of having visions or visiting heaven. Television evangelist and faith healer Ernest Angley of Akron, Ohio claimed, “Today, the Lord lets me see the cloud of His glory. It comes down, and I preach in it; and I can see His glory with my eyes open or closed. ... An angel stands by my side and directs me in every miracle service, and he even tells me things that are going to happen ahead of time.” Here’s a video of Ernest Angley explaining one of his visions: The Ernest Angley Hour c. 1981 show open:

Ellen G. White, who was part of a group who formed what would become the Seventh Day Adventist Church claimed to have received over 2,000 dreams and visions from God.

Then there was the book about Alex Malarkey, The Boy Who Came Back from Heaven. In it he claimed that he visited heaven after being injured in a bad car crash. Alex later said that the story was all made up. He said that he did it to get attention.

A South African preacher is now making the claim that he went to heaven and even took pictures using his smartphone. Really! The things you can do with a smartphone.

Many of us remember the visions of Oral Roberts. In 1977 Oral claimed to have had a vision of a 900-foot-tall Jesus who told him to build the City of Faith Hospital and Medical School. In 1983 Jesus had appeared to him in person and commissioned him to find a cure for cancer. The medical complex opened in 1981 and closed in 1989 and he never did find a cure for cancer.

Then there is Arthur Ferdig, former managing editor of Herbert W. Armstrong’s magazine, The Plain Truth. He wrote two books, one was titled, Taught by Angels, the other was Spirits of Light. His angel friends, including Angel Metatron, refer to him as "The Bridge" and "Banner.” They became his teachers and guides that made him into a messenger of truth and light. You can still find his books on Amazon.com. I see that Ferdig was not as good at understanding the IRS tax code as he was being a messenger of truth and light. He was sentenced to prison for 18 months for tax evasion.



So, when it comes to dreams and visions, be like the Bereans, who searched the Scriptures daily to see if what others said was true.