I dream ALOT. I know some are God inspired. Can you share any books, literature on dreams and dream interpretations?
Posted: Wed Aug 28, 2019 2:34 pm
Based on my own experience and on books contained within the Bible itself, I'll share what's been helpful to me and verses that support the practice:
1. Get in the habit of writing down dreams.
Habakkuk 2:2 (NIV)
The Lord’s Answer 2 Then the Lord replied:
“Write down the revelation and make it plain on tablets so that a herald[a] may run with it.
Footnotes:
a. Habakkuk 2:2 Or so that whoever reads it
As you write it down, pay attention to the word choice that comes to mind as you recall the dream because...
[A.] there's biblical precedent to believe He is in control of the diction (even of rebellious people, so how much more us humbly submitted to Him receiving His divine guidance, wanting to hear)...
Matthew 10:19 (NIV)
19 But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say,
John 11:49-52 (NIV)
49 Then one of them, named Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, spoke up, “You know nothing at all! 50 You do not realize that it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish.”
51 He did not say this on his own, but as high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the Jewish nation, 52 and not only for that nation but also for the scattered children of God, to bring them together and make them one.
...and [B.] those words may have double meaning beyond the literal thing you just witnessed/described. Look up their definitions (words that stick out). I'll share a personal example and then a Scriptural one:
I dreamt of a shark (menacing, lying in wait, angry, teeth bared at my mother), I could see it, crystal clear from my perspective [I'm in the sky/in the air, sitting in a tipped over basket which she jumped out of; I'm still up there with the luggage, caught sight of the shark as I'm slowly descending upon the water], but from my mother's perspective on the ground, on this sand bar with palm trees, all she saw was dark blue water. No idea. The shark (motionless, vertically lying in wait) was just waiting for her to dip the slightest part of her body into the water to attack/devour her. And because of witnessing this, as I came closer to sea level, and could no longer see from that high perspective anymore, I gazed up to direct my energy away, remove myself from landing on the water, so I didn't make contact with the surface of the water. At that point of descent, I had been no higher than 10 feet up in the air, so I thought, “these waters may be similarly shark-infested [I can't see from here anymore]; they can breach the surface if they really wanted to” hence why I looked to get higher since I couldn't see the potential danger anymore at this lowered level.
There are many layers to dig into in just that small fraction of the dream, but what I want to draw attention to is the word “breach”. When I recalled the scene with words, I'm thinking—and as is relevant / in context of the dream—of an animal breaching the surface of water. But then when I looked up the word “breach”, reminded of its other uses:
breachnoun ˈbrēch Definition of breach (Entry 1 of 2)
1 : infraction or violation of a law, obligation, tie, or standard // a breach of trust // sued them for breach of contract 2a : a broken, ruptured, or torn condition or area // a breach of the skin //the leak was a major security breach b : a gap (as in a wall) made by battering // fixing a breach in the fence once more unto the breach, dear friends, … or close the wall up with our English dead — Shakespeare 3a : a break in accustomed friendly relations // caused a breach between the two countries b : a temporary gap in continuity : HIATUS // a breach of routine 4 : a leap especially of a whale out of water
breachverb breached; breaching; breaches
Definition of breach (Entry 2 of 2)
transitive verb 1 : to make a gap in by battering : to make a breach (see BREACH entry 1 sense 2b) in // breached the castle wall 2 : BREAK, VIOLATE // breach an agreement
intransitive verb : to leap out of water // a whale breaching
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/breach
That coupled with direct observations of what shark behavior (on this fallen earth) literally is: predator, not your friend, and in the dream: waiting to violate you = it's a threat.
Upon acknowledging what you see (in the dream and in life around you), the Holy Spirit will bring deeper insights, reminding you of Bible verses/Biblical concepts to operate off of once you realize this / make this connection, again after humbly acknowledging everything you saw, that will give you further insight...
John 14:26 (NIV)
26 But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.
...(so the more familiar with Scripture—which in essence is the mentality of God / His perspectives preserved so that no matter how far mankind deviates from His ways / His thoughts, that Adam and Eve would've known since the beginning, His way of viewing things, are preserved; the more familiar you are with that—the more God-centered definition and understanding you'll receive of it).
For instance, I know that the bitter seas are the multitude of people, raging in rebellion against God (Revelation 17:15; Isaiah 17:12-13—I'll quote them out below for your reading) so there are ruthless predators among the rebellious waters waiting to attack that only with the discernment from above (YHWH's perspective, His fresh water [fresh water is what makes the clouds, a gaseous substance / thus like spirit], heavenly/in the sky, water of the Word, living waters) can you avoid falling into the traps of said lurking, ruthless predators in the dark. He lights your path / nothing is hidden from Him. The concept of “not keeping proper boundaries” i.e. preying on humans is a sin for animals; they're violating their created purpose and you at the same time (Genesis 9:5-6).
Revelation 17:15 (NIV)
15 Then the angel said to me, “The waters you saw, where the prostitute sits, are peoples, multitudes, nations and languages.
Isaiah 17:12-13 (NIV)
12 Woe to the many nations that rage— they rage like the raging sea! Woe to the peoples who roar— they roar like the roaring of great waters! 13 Although the peoples roar like the roar of surging waters, when he rebukes them they flee far away, driven before the wind like chaff on the hills, like tumbleweed before a gale.
With that as my foundation, then in light of my dream and what I saw, even when the water looks placid (pacific ocean, serene, as it was in my dream), deceptive appearance, the ruthless violater is just waiting amongst them to sinfully [lawlessly] attack / violate you:
2 Samuel 22:29 (NIV)
29 You, Lord, are my lamp; the Lord turns my darkness into light.
Genesis 9:5-6 (NIV)
5 And for your lifeblood I will surely demand an accounting. I will demand an accounting from every animal. And from each human being, too, I will demand an accounting for the life of another human being.
6 “Whoever sheds human blood, by humans shall their blood be shed; for in the image of God has God made mankind.
Animals are not suppose to kill humans. It is a crime / sin / lawless behavior for them to kill us. Thus it is a breach/violation of the law for a shark to do so. What the shark represents is a rebellious creature (rebellious created beings—animal, human, even angelic). However, if you leave the habitat you were created for, or leave the vessel that could safely transport you across it, you are in their territory, their domain, they have every right to prey on you. Same when God has given you personal revelation not to hang out somewhere and you go anyway; if you get preyed upon, He warned you. It's no one's fault but your own. You can decide to proceed into there or back up, and not go in. Be slow enough to approach a situation so that you don't get entangled and devoured by the surrounding environment, hidden traps, just because it looks like a fun / thrilling time.
Now a Scriptural example of more than one application of a word, double meaning meant by the symbol:
Jeremiah 1:11-12 (NIV)
11 The word of the Lord came to me: “What do you see, Jeremiah?”
“I see the branch of an almond tree,” I replied.
12 The Lord said to me, “You have seen correctly, for I am watching[a] to see that my word is fulfilled.”
Footnotes:
a. Jeremiah 1:12 The Hebrew for watching sounds like the Hebrew for almond tree.
So in this case the almond tree (noun) was symbolic in the vision for God watching (verb).
And their similar sound...
v. 11 shaqed: almond (tree) https://biblehub.com/text/jeremiah/1-11.htm v. 12 shaqad: to watch, wake https://biblehub.com/text/jeremiah/1-12.htm
A play on words.
Also, visually, a tree is tall from which you can see danger at a higher perspective than your human "height" / dimension.
So write down your dreams, He'll give you the words to use, because you may not make sense of it fully until you involve words not just merely recalling the imagery silently in your mind.
2. Note what the person (or thing) used in your dream symbolizes to you personally; God knows what they symbolize in your life (others may not; so, unless He reveals it to that person, it's a personal meaning that other people may not be aware of). Still using myself as an example, and the short fraction of my dream I shared with you above: my mother represents someone who lacks YHWH's discernment at times and is more carried away by the lust of the eyes (e.g. fashion trends [what's "in" because it looks nice, also demonstrated in the dream elsewhere, but by that snippet of the dream too: the beautiful scenery carries her away, determines her decisions] vs. the purpose YHWH gave for clothing and whom to fellowship with / be tied at the neck/yoking herself to [protective from the fallen state of creation and your own / mankind's awareness of nakedness: the elements we now have to deal with / severe weather, heat and cold, animal attacks—even insect bites—or violating, lustful human beings who don't respect boundaries; clothing is not just mere beauty; also, enduring quality of clothing vs. wasteful, fast fashion, that doesn't offer you nor anyone else any true, long-lasting protection, and either endangers you or leaves you unprotected from danger]). So because she lacks YHWH's discernment at times (not thinking of purpose/functionality, consequence, and rather the lust of the eyes determine her decisions), she falls prey to worldly behavior and worldly people in rebellion against Him. Her perspectives are often earthly, not heavenly because she sides with the lust of the eyes, thrill, and pleasure over heavenly perspective.
1 John 2:16 (NIV)
16 For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world.
Isaiah 55:9 (NIV)
9 “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.
I'll share a bigger portion of the dream (I wrote it down this morning) so you see why I summarized it that way:
cristobela
[...] But after deciding to shame Mitsrayim’s prideful, removed from reality statements (“everything is fine and Kitty didn’t poop”), my mother doesn’t stick around. She goes back to vacationing. Despite her coming back the first time with these infected, brown/raised spots on her skin that look like they burst. And I keep asking what happened. She explains that it’s from all the drunken men who touched her while she sat on the beach. This is something she must deal with if she wants to enjoy the view/the vacation.
I’m telling her not to go back then. But no, she insists on vacationing—with Jeannie this time. So they go. In order to reach the next destination, one must jump thousands of feet below into the ocean. I’m not crazy enough to do that, but both she and Jeannie jumped in. I stay in this floating square basket, tipped over on its side with her luggage (and myself) in it. Floating closer to the water by directing my gaze to it. So I’m wondering why she felt the need to just jump in; that was mindless, careless behavior.
As I’m nearing the water / floating down slowly, I see my mother on a sand bar with palm trees about to stick her hand in water, and there is a giant, great white shark (or megalodon?) sitting there motionless, like a vertically held pencil, waiting for her to dip in the slightest part of her body to snap at her/prey on her/devour. Looking angry, teeth bared.
I tried telling her not to because I could see beneath the water, clear as crystal, from my angle, but she only saw dark blue.
I look back at my trajectory / where I’m heading; now that I’m just above sea level, I can’t see from that perspective anymore into what’s right in front of me. All these waters might be similarly shark-infested. So I “gaze” up/direct my energy up so the basket doesn’t touch sea, but it’s only like 10 feet from touching the surface and I’m thinking, “these sharks can breach if they really want to”.
[...]
It may be burdensome ("luggage") to go more slowly, but that's where you stay in true protection, giving you enough time to notice things, that the "fastly jumping in" cannot give you. You'll suffer harm, misleading, by false leaders/false teachers and by the dangerous/lacking-wisdom activities this person wants to engage in.
And sometimes, He may use one person (because of what they symbolize to you) to really be commenting on another or several people like that in your life. That's for you to assess in your own life, in response to what's going on around you the day before, or how the day ended up developing.
Which leads to my next point:
3. Sometimes the dream is corrective rebuke (either for something you did or for something that you witnessed going on around you/that someone else committed), God will let you know how He saw it and sometimes by using an exaggerated example that you readily recognize as wrong in case you thought what you saw in your daily living or that you committed was negligible/unimportant/not that serious.
For example, He may send a vision of murder (lawless killing) because of something either you or someone else said/did in annoyance, but a reaction that was baseless / unmerited. He sees it the same way:
Matthew 5:21-22 (NIV)
21 “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder,[a] and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ 22 But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister[b][c] will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, ‘Raca,’[d] is answerable to the court. And anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.
Footnotes:
a. Matthew 5:21 Exodus 20:13 b. Matthew 5:22 The Greek word for brother or sister (adelphos) refers here to a fellow disciple, whether man or woman; also in verse 23. c. Matthew 5:22 Some manuscripts brother or sister without cause d. Matthew 5:22 An Aramaic term of contempt
Murder is lawless killing. You had no legitimate basis—no God-allowed basis—to attack or feel a certain type of way. Same with annoyance uncalled-for (no just / fair / lawful reason / God-given permission to be). It's the same anger that a murderer (lawless killer) feels.
...or He may send a vision of rape, when consent has been violated (in matters you thought were small and the violation of consent not necessarily sexual in nature). He chooses the imagery you readily recognize as wrong and makes you reduce the behavior to its essence because in the heart, He feels the same violation when either/or is committed, when He sees His human creations behaving in ways that He felt violating.
Genesis 6:5-6 (NIV)
5 The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time. 6 The Lord regretted that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was deeply troubled.
1 Kings 8:39 (NIV)
39 then hear from heaven, your dwelling place. Forgive and act; deal with everyone according to all they do, since you know their hearts (for you alone know every human heart),
Exodus 10:16 (NIV)
16 Pharaoh quickly summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “I have sinned against the Lord your God and against you.
It's not just ourselves, each other, the rest of creation whom we're affecting, but God (Creator) Himself, and He's coming to you personally/individually (in dream) to reveal how He felt about that.
Sometimes, our hearts are so hard that He sends someone else with a more humble ear, who accepts what He's saying, listening, recognizing the situation for what it is, to explain it to us. And not just so we understand, but so that the proper credit goes to Him (YHWH) not the idolatrous individuals nor the idols/myths/false ideas/false ways they worship. He's the one who reveals the truth, the proper way, and has power to change your circumstances, so submit to Him, the Creator, not what is false or limited in power, influence, and limited omniscience.
Genesis 40:8 (NIV)
8 “We both had dreams,” they answered, “but there is no one to interpret them.” Then Joseph said to them, “Do not interpretations belong to God? Tell me your dreams.”
Genesis 41:16 (NIV)
16 “I cannot do it,” Joseph replied to Pharaoh, “but God will give Pharaoh the answer he desires.”
Daniel 2:28 (NIV)
28 but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries. He has shown King Nebuchadnezzar what will happen in days to come. Your dream and the visions that passed through your mind as you were lying in bed are these:
4. When a dream is prophetic, unless you're outright told it's prophetic, you may not necessarily receive the discernment to see the prophetic element until it comes to pass / until retrospect (thus you're looking back at what happened in light of what you wrote), whether it was immediately talking about something that would happen later in that day or something you won't notice until years later (He makes you cross paths with that dream you wrote down several years before so that you realize it now)—both are my experience. But also Scripturally, using the same examples from above, both Joseph and Daniel were able to interpret the dreams and recognize the prophetic element within them (revelation they received from God whether right away or after praying for the understanding).
Genesis 40:12-15 (NIV)
12 “This is what it means,” Joseph said to him. “The three branches are three days. 13 Within three days Pharaoh will lift up your head and restore you to your position, and you will put Pharaoh’s cup in his hand, just as you used to do when you were his cupbearer. 14 But when all goes well with you, remember me and show me kindness; mention me to Pharaoh and get me out of this prison. 15 I was forcibly carried off from the land of the Hebrews, and even here I have done nothing to deserve being put in a dungeon.”
Daniel 2:17-19 (NIV)
17 Then Daniel returned to his house and explained the matter to his friends Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. 18 He urged them to plead for mercy from the God of heaven concerning this mystery, so that he and his friends might not be executed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. 19 During the night the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision. Then Daniel praised the God of heaven
Daniel 2:30 (NIV)
30 As for me, this mystery has been revealed to me, not because I have greater wisdom than anyone else alive, but so that Your Majesty may know the interpretation and that you may understand what went through your mind.
Daniel 2:36-40 (NIV)
36 “This was the dream, and now we will interpret it to the king. 37 Your Majesty, you are the king of kings. The God of heaven has given you dominion and power and might and glory; 38 in your hands he has placed all mankind and the beasts of the field and the birds in the sky. Wherever they live, he has made you ruler over them all. You are that head of gold. 39 “After you, another kingdom will arise, inferior to yours. Next, a third kingdom, one of bronze, will rule over the whole earth. 40 Finally, there will be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron—for iron breaks and smashes everything—and as iron breaks things to pieces, so it will crush and break all the others.
An example of years later (even generations later, thus a vision that had been given to one but interpreted by someone else years later):
Daniel 9:2 (NIV)
2 in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, understood from the Scriptures, according to the word of the Lord given to Jeremiah the prophet, that the desolation of Jerusalem would last seventy years.
Daniel 12:8-9 (NIV)
8 I heard, but I did not understand. So I asked, “My lord, what will the outcome of all this be?”
9 He replied, “Go your way, Daniel, because the words are rolled up and sealed until the time of the end.
..and some prophetic elements of the vision or dream you may not be able to pick up on / understand in your lifetime; it's for someone else's benefit in the future.
Whether rebuke to someone, even yourself, or prophetic (can be all of these simultaneously), as you know, He uses dreams (even nightmares) to speak.
Job 33:14-18 (NIV)
14 For God does speak—now one way, now another— though no one perceives it. 15 In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls on people as they slumber in their beds, 16 he may speak in their ears and terrify them with warnings, 17 to turn them from wrongdoing and keep them from pride, 18 to preserve them from the pit, their lives from perishing by the sword.[a]
Footnotes:
a. Job 33:18 Or from crossing the river
But dream, nightmare, what have you, if we don't give them the proper attention they deserve, write it down (to preserve its full detail), it's not as easy to analyze and test it in light of Scripture later.
On that note however, as v.14 mentioned above (in Job 33), it's not just in dreams that He speaks.
5. Things happening around you, not in dream, but awake, can be symbolic too, directly sent by God to communicate. For example:
Jonah 4:5-11 (NIV)
5 Jonah had gone out and sat down at a place east of the city. There he made himself a shelter, sat in its shade and waited to see what would happen to the city. 6 Then the Lord God provided a leafy plant[a] and made it grow up over Jonah to give shade for his head to ease his discomfort, and Jonah was very happy about the plant. 7 But at dawn the next day God provided a worm, which chewed the plant so that it withered. 8 When the sun rose, God provided a scorching east wind, and the sun blazed on Jonah’s head so that he grew faint. He wanted to die, and said, “It would be better for me to die than to live.”
9 But God said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?”
“It is,” he said. “And I’m so angry I wish I were dead.”
10 But the Lord said, “You have been concerned about this plant, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight. 11 And should I not have concern for the great city of Nineveh, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left—and also many animals?”
Footnotes:
a. Jonah 4:6 The precise identification of this plant is uncertain; also in verses 7, 9 and 10.
Jonah is not dreaming. These are circumstances happening around him serving as symbol (like a dream) in response to how he is behaving (in rebellion to what God wants him to do: go warn the Ninevites to repent; Jonah has so much compassion for a plant, and not even—only because he is benefiting from its shade—his heart is so hardened to the compassion God has for living creatures with the breath of life in them, and blood running through their veins, a whole nation of 120,000 people with their living animals, who lacked discernment comparable to that of the mindless/soulless plant. Why doesn't he have compassion? Go warn them; stop rebelling). But again not a dream, yet still symbols / parables YHWH is using to communicate with you, send you a message.
So write things down. Obviously Jonah did (or he dictated to someone to write it down), document: whether it's a dream / a vision you receive at night or during the day in a trance / a day dream, or things happening around you in physical life that stand out to you (as in Jonah's case), standing out to you like there's a deeper level of meaning going on here, I feel convicted, that's me or that's not me but I should be; even in the plant and animal behavior happening around you. I've come to find that they become mini-parables of something I'm doing / how I'm behaving / relating / or something I'm enduring, illustrated by that live-action parable happening around me. It either serves as comfort that you're going in the right direction or rebuke to correct yourself before it gets to the level of having to send others to humiliate you (humble you, various means of correction, verbal, physical, even lawless behavior committed against you in return for your lawlessness).
Obadiah 1:15 (NIV)
15 “The day of the Lord is near for all nations. As you have done, it will be done to you; your deeds will return upon your own head.
In that same vein, for Jonah's lack of compassion/alleviation for the Ninewites sitting in the heat of YHWH's wrath, YHWH withdraws His compassion/alleviation from Jonah who is sitting in the heat of the sun.
Similarly, the rich man's lack of compassion / alleviation for Lazarus in life, thirsty, hungry, naked sitting in the heat of the sun, dogs licking his sores (even they got fed by Lazarus who had nothing), resulted in the rich man's lack of compassion / alleviation from the heat he received in death. (i.e. Luke 16:19-31) as he waits for his resurrection from the dead.
In summary:
- write it down
(what happened, how others reacted, emotions you felt, things that were said, describe the scene / what you see / witnessed; your dreams are as legitimate as the things happening around you in waking life; it's just a matter of discerning Holy-spirit inspired or deceiving spirit inspired [I'll get to that below after this]).
- ponder on it
(the word choice that happened when you wrote it down; even of a word you know, but stuck out to you as you wrote it down; look up the definition, there may be more than one application to it, word play going on; think on what that person represents to you; whether your or someone else's actions/thoughts are being rebuked, or if it was prophetic [you may only recognize the prophetic in hindsight, crossing paths with the dream again that you wrote down—later that same day or years later—if you're not told directly in the dream that it's prophetic, that something will happen in such and such time nor receive the discernment right then and there or later that it's of something to come])
- open your eyes to not just dreams, but waking life around you.
He uses everything in His creation to speak to you and to those around you who have eyes to see, ears to hear. Pay attention. He speaks in many ways. But you must be firmly rooted in how Scripture (the mentality of YHWH) defines concepts, right and wrong (e.g. right killing or wrong killing); otherwise, you may not see the true meaning. You must consider how He defines behavior (as lawful [good] or lawless [sinful])...
Romans 7:12 (NIV)
12 So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good.
1 John 3:4 (NIV)
4 Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness.
...to arrive at the accurate conclusion; acknowledge the symbols He has already established in creation and in Scripture. But the principle of, “what do you see?” is very important (whether in dream/vision or awake witnessing things going on around you) e.g. shark behavior being symbolic of something else, after honestly observing what it's like. He will give the proper interpretation later in a way that fully agrees with His Word, including the Law and the Prophets.
In a nutshell: keep a journal.
The book of ArcticDreams4 (or insert your name here). It's essentially what the Book of Jonah, the Book of Judges, Chronicles is. Documenting communications from God, in all the ways He speaks, what He allowed to happen in history, dreams He sends you, will be both commemorative and prophetic. Then it becomes a matter of is it Holy Spirit inspired or demonically inspired.
To discern whether it's Holy Spirit inspired or demonic, three helpful points to consider:
1. If it doesn't agree with the Word of YHWH, His Law and Prophets, don't trust the message (or, maybe the message isn't the problem, but their interpretation of the message is by whomever is interpreting).
1 John 4:1 (NIV)
4 Dear friends, 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.
2 Corinthians 11:13-14 (NIV)
13 For such people are false apostles, deceitful workers, masquerading as apostles of Christ. 14 And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light.
Luke 11:35 (NIV)
35 See to it, then, that the light within you is not darkness.
Isaiah 8:20 (KJV)
20 To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.
Acts 17:11 (NIV)
11 Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.
Acts 24:14 (NIV)
14 However, I admit that I worship the God of our ancestors as a follower of the Way, which they call a sect. I believe everything that is in accordance with the Law and that is written in the Prophets,
It—vision or interpretation of a vision—must agree with the Law or the Prophets; otherwise the interpretation of it will be wrong. And anyone who accuses Jesus (or Paul) of denying the Father on any point has a faulty interpretation of what they meant.
An example of someone interpreting a vision/dream contrary to God's Law and to YHWH's truthful prophets, and YHWH exposing it (and allowing many to be misled by a deceiving spirit): read 1 Kings 22, Micaiah preaching the truth (though hesitant at first because of peer pressure) against an idolater (Ahab worships Ba'al and follows the advice of false prophets, only saying nice-sounding things, not the truth of Scripture, based on YHWH's Law), but a false prophet tried to use a symbolic sign / vision he received to prophesy success for Ahab. He received a deceiving spirit because he rejected the truth; he should've known that idolatry, the worship of other gods, and false beliefs, especially in the name of Yisra'el (who associates with YHWH), is not blessed even when they claim to be of Yisra'el, a fellow brother in the faith. Even Jehoshaphat's economic ventures with Ahab failed. YHWH would not allow that yoke to an idolatrous brother in the faith.
Same principle as:
1 Corinthians 5:9-13 (NIV)
9 I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people— 10 not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world. 11 But now I am writing to you that you must not associate with anyone who claims to be a brother or sister[a] but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or slanderer, a drunkard or swindler. Do not even eat with such people.
12 What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? 13 God will judge those outside. “Expel the wicked person from among you.”[b]
Footnotes:
a. 1 Corinthians 5:11 The Greek word for brother or sister (adelphos) refers here to a believer, whether man or woman, as part of God’s family; also in 8:11, 13. b. 1 Corinthians 5:13 Deut. 13:5; 17:7; 19:19; 21:21; 22:21,24; 24:7
And for trying to help Ahab, Jehoshaphat almost got killed earlier in the chapter(1 Kings 22). YHWH was sending judgment on the idolatrous. If you don't want to come under that judgment, make sure you and your house are following Him alone, not any other god/idolatrous notion/false belief/myth/fable, any of Jezebel's ways. And if YHWH has prophesied destruction to them, we cannot stubbornly yoke ourselves to their cause believing we'll have success just because His favor was on us for having obeyed in our reign/our house. You'll fall under the calamitious judgment He sends on them for being amongst them. He wants their stubbornly unrepentant self (thus one who knows the truth but rejects it) to be destroyed. Yoke yourself to them, risk destruction along with them. Jehoshaphat only survived it because he called out to YHWH in that moment of destruction. Otherwise, he was going down along with his idolatrous "brother in the faith".
Thus, of utmost importance, that we fully agree with what the Father said.
2. If it doesn't come to pass within the time they said, also don't trust it (or them).
Deuteronomy 18:21-22 (NIV)
21 You may say to yourselves, “How can we know when a message has not been spoken by the Lord?” 22 If what a prophet proclaims in the name of the Lord does not take place or come true, that is a message the Lord has not spoken. That prophet has spoken presumptuously, so do not be alarmed.
3. If the vision/dream comes to pass or a miraculous sign around you occurs, but the message/vision/dream tells you to worship some idolatrous way (deviant to what YHWH says), don't trust it, even if it comes in YHWH's Name or YHWH deliberately sent it to you to test your loyalty to what He originally said.
Deuteronomy 13:1-4 (NIV)
13 [a]If a prophet, or one who foretells by dreams, appears among you and announces to you a sign or wonder, 2 and if the sign or wonder spoken of takes place, and the prophet says, “Let us follow other gods” (gods you have not known) “and let us worship them,” 3 you must not listen to the words of that prophet or dreamer. The Lord your God is testing you to find out whether you love him with all your heart and with all your soul. 4 It is the Lord your God you must follow, and him you must revere. Keep his commands and obey him; serve him and hold fast to him.
Footnotes:
a. Deuteronomy 13:1 In Hebrew texts 13:1-18 is numbered 13:2-19.
In line with point #1, I've recognized in my experience reading through the Scriptures, that sometimes it's not the vision / dream that's the problem, but someone's interpretation of the vision that's faulty, not anything in the vision itself nor anything wrong with the way an apostle interpreted the vision e.g. Peter's vision with the unclean animals, and how people overlook Peter's actual conclusion and understanding of the vision, and end up falsely interpreting it in denial of how Jesus continues to identify literal unclean animals as unclean in Revelation 18:2.
Revelation 18:2 (NIV)
2 With a mighty voice he shouted: “‘Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great!’[a] She has become a dwelling for demons and a haunt for every impure spirit, a haunt for every unclean bird, a haunt for every unclean and detestable animal.
Footnotes:
a. Revelation 18:2 Isaiah 21:9
The Book of Revelation is a vision Jesus sent to John. If the interpretation would have you being lawless in what it asks you to do, when taken literally (and you're actually defining terms i.e. food, the way all of Scripture consistently does), then literal application is not the actual meaning of it. You're suppose to look for metaphorical applications or a deeper concept so that you're not lawless in the literal. Just like we don't eat literal human flesh and blood even though Jesus tell us to eat His flesh and blood (it's bread and wine in symbolic representation of His sacrifice; we don't actually eat the unclean thing in physical life—be it fellow humans, blood, and no one obedient ate an unclean animal [Peter sure didn't] literally).
But as Peter understood finally, after a YHWH-orchestrated visit from Cornelius, and thus the proper understanding of Peter's vision that Peter himself gave: gentiles, people from other nations besides Israel, with unclean natures that once reflected unclean animals, undiscerning in what they do (unrestrained eating like that of pigs / be it greed, gluttony, or just eating any and everything, though everything in its absolute sense—which would include even poop, blood, gasoline, poison ivy, etc]—isn't food for mankind), unrestrained lusts like dogs who will even hump your leg (not what nor whom their sexual organs were meant for), feasting on what is foul/rotting like a vulture/eating things found dead—whether ingesting physically foul and rotten things and or rotten and foul ideas, attitudes, entering or coming out of your heart etc—once a gentile has been cleansed of those behaviors, and heart desires, they can't be called unclean; but, unlike the converted Gentile in Christ who does change from the inside out, these literal animals' behaviors have not changed [hence Revelation 18:2]; they still serve as symbols of uncleanness because this is how they still function, how they are, on earth to this day; they still do and desire from the heart / their innermost being to continue to do these foul things.
MUST NOT WATCH!!! Elephant poops and then Vulture eats it
Johnny Herrera Published on Feb 17, 2017
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I was just recording my walk through at the Cameron Park Zoo in Waco, Texas and walked right into this. This is one of the grossest things i've ever seen and i hope you can stomach it. My advice...DON'T WATCH IT ITS NASTY.
Category Pets & Animals
Poop coming out of the elephant: @1:10-1:15, & Vulture coming to eat it @1:41-till the end of the video.
Why are pigs called pigs?
CountrysideDweller Published on Nov 13, 2011
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A video is worth a thousand words.
Category Pets & Animals
@0:21-0:30
Sewer Rats Eating Lunch.wmv
scottnys Published on Jan 24, 2010
Quote:
Rats Eating Some Golden Nuggets in the Sewer
Category Pets & Animals
@1:18-1:21
The literally and physically unclean things should not enter the beginning of our human digestive system; they are contaminating to us (as humans); we weren't created to be garbage cans. And this is why we have a way to manage waste and eliminate it properly (e.g. bury it under the earth); otherwise, it pollutes the water and the food supply, and we get sick. This is just one of the aspects of how (and why) the physically unclean things YHWH identified as unclean in His Law, continue to be unclean in the physical (I addressed more real world examples in the topic). And as long as we're physically on earth, those Commands guard against physical uncleanness and disease when we heed them.
People who walk away from Peter's vision and Peter's lawfully stable understanding of the vision, to conclude there is absolutelyno physical detriment to eating literal unclean animals are walking away with a false interpretation that denies details of what Jesus (and Paul) said in the very epistles / letters they're quoting from; it's unstable behavior, an unstable way of interpreting, and thus, unsurprisingly, a hazard...
Isaiah 66:17 (NIV)
17 “Those who consecrate and purify themselves to go into the gardens, following one who is among those who eat the flesh of pigs, rats and other unclean things—they will meet their end together with the one they follow,” declares the Lord.
...they fall into unbelief of what Scripture says because of their uncareful, unstable handling of the Scriptures elsewhere in the New Testament, like of Peter's vision and ignoring the vision Jesus sent to John in Revelation 18:2. Unsurprisingly, they do the same to Paul's epistles because of not keeping all of what he said in mind, nor keeping the sound definition of certain terms (i.e. "food", "good", "sin" etc) true to how it appears across the Hebrew and Greek, or the rest of what Paul said even in English / or insert translated language here (thus not allowing how the Bible, in its totality, defines terms to establish their method of interpretation, but following other people idea's / definitions of terms / concepts, traditionally deviant from Scripture, to define that for them). And knowing this, they should've dug deeper knowing that Scripture doesn't contradict.
All that to say, familiarize yourself very well with the Word of God, know Him (and what He stands for) first and foremost, before anyone else's interpretation of it (and Jesus being YHWH-incarnate/ YHWH in the flesh, let His Word, His instructions, How He taught in the New Testament, all of what He said, not how people popularly preach on Him, but everything He actually said in the chapter, in that whole letter/book, determine how you interpret—be it the rest of His Word, a dream of yours, or what's happening around you, or you will be led to wrong conclusions).
I've linked to it in other topics, but I've compiled popularly overlooked verses in the New Testament that drastically change the interpretation if we don't pay attention to them (as well as highlighting the mentality / rest of Scripture in their working knowledge of the one who wrote the epistle [Old Testament background that is foundational]) that gives proper context to what they're defining. The audience they're addressing would've known this but is absent from our awareness when we read it back if we don't acknowledge or accept that part of Scripture as legitimate (and it is). [Details in the New Testament that Get Ignored]
But, so you're not reliant on me, I recommend that as you journal, work your way through whole books, reading a chapter at a time, paying close attention (who is talking to whom, what are the locations [country, landscape, waterscape, inside a house, in the sky, etc], themes you notice repeating, any thoughts that come to mind as you read write them down too, even name meanings [in Scripture and of the people He uses as symbols in your dream; look those name meanings up) keeping as key that sound doctrine / sound interpreting is not lawless nor Scripture-denying and neither was Jesus (He was sinless / not law breaking in anything He said or did; otherwise, He would've sinned [broken the Law]. Paul wasn't lawless in his doctrine either after conversion [not a Pharisee anymore]; he believed in everything that's in accord with the Law and the Prophets. Anyone who tells you differently is overlooking a detail in the Scriptures, either of what he himself said, or that YHWH Himself said, even in the New Testament).
Another nutshell: define things in the way Jesus / YHWH-incarnate did (and still does) lawfully, so that you can interpret everything (the rest of His Word, things happening around you, and the symbolism in your dreams) correctly.
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In a nutshell: keep a journal.