Tim Maas Retired Quality Assurance Specialist with the U.S. Army

Since the Bible (including in the case of Pharaoh's dream noted in the question) treats the genuine interpretation of dreams as something that is granted by God (Genesis 40:8; Genesis 41:15-16), I would say that an individual who has had a dream where the meaning is not already indisputably clear should ask God's guidance in understanding it, either by the application of general Biblical principles to the dream, or through the ordering of events in the dreamer's life, and then be open and discerning to ways in which God may subsequently clarify the dream's meaning.

I would also specifically avoid the employment of any individual or service purporting to provide such interpretations for a fee.

June 26 2020 • 0 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report

Grant Abbott Child of Father, Follower of Son, Student of Spirit

I would caution you about trying to interpret your dreams biblically. Most of the dreams that human beings have are used by our minds to integrate our emotions with our physical experiences into our memory banks.

We need to remember the ways that God will guide us to understand his will for our lives, in the following order of importance:
1. Commanding Scripture
2. Compelling Spirit
3. Counsel of the Saints
4. Common Sense
5. Circumstantial Signs

If we think that a dream may be something that God is trying to communicate with us, then we first should apply the filters listed above in order of importance. Dreams are a form of circumstantial sign and are not always reliable.

We should also look first to the New Testament for our guidance on dreams because we live in the kingdom of Jesus Christ, with his Holy Spirit living in us, and giving us guidance and direction.

Here are a few New testament examples:

Joseph was told in a dream not to divorce Mary, because she was going to give birth to the Messiah.

Joseph was told in a dream to flee to Egypt because King Herod was out to kill Jesus [he killed all the babies in Bethelem].

Peter is given a vision (a waking dream) of a net coming down from heaven containing clean and unclean animals. He is told to get up and eat. Peter comes to understand that God has declared all foods clean and that he should not be afraid to go into the home of a Gentile. God was preparing Peter to share the gospel with Cornelius, a gentile Roman Centurian.

Paul has a vision of a man from Macedonia, who pleads with Paul to come over to their country because they need to hear his message. Paul immediately leaves for Philippi and shares the gospel and establishes a church there.

In all of these examples there is no ambiguity about why the person had the specific dream or vision that is mentioned in Scripture. God had a very specific purpose in mind and his message was crystal clear.

In my personal experience, I had a recurring dream every night about activities that were taking place in my church that was very vivid and realistic. These activities were not actually taking place in our church. I talked to my pastor and Christian friends about it. Then the dream turned into a nightmare as began seeing the ways that the enemy (Satan) was punishing and enslaving people with his wicked and evil schemes. I came to the conclusion that God was calling me to start a new ministry to men in my church. I prepared a business plan for this new ministry and presented it to church leadership. They confirmed it as God's leading and helped me get the ministry started. Once I did that, the dreams and nightmares ended.

God had a very specific purpose for the dream he gave me and, after some searching, I clearly understood what he wanted me to do. I am convinced that God will not give us vague direction through dreams and visions. If he chooses to use these means to communicate with us, his message will be clearly understood.

June 28 2020 • 0 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report