God Communicates to His People
Recently, I reread the story of Joseph in Genesis. I was struck by how much of the book of Genesis is devoted to the stories of Joseph. It is estimated that perhaps one fourth of the book of Genesis is about Joseph. Much of the stories about Joseph are familiar to many of us, who grew up with some of the most popular Bible stories. Joseph’s special coat, his brothers selling him as a slave to Egypt out of jealousy, his rise from one of the lowliest positions to the second highest in Egypt, which was the greatest of the kingdoms of the time, his planning and actions that saved the land of Egypt and those surrounding it during the seven years of famine, etc. One of the well-known stories are about his dreams and his ability to interpret the dreams of his fellow prisoners and even of the Pharoah himself. It was this part of the stories that made me recall some thoughts by perhaps the most well-known psychologist Sigmund Freud. He wrote about dreams that we all have and tried to interpret them and its meaning. Why do we have dreams and does it have any significance for us? Freud wrote:
During the epoch which may be described as pre-scientific, men had no difficulty in finding an explanation of dreams. When they remembered a dream after waking up, they regarded it as either a favourable or a hostile manifestation by higher powers, daemonic and divine.
Instead of believing that dreams may be a manifestation of divine revelation, Freud concluded that dreams are a product of the dreamer’s own mind and dreams merely represent “wish-fulfillments.” Contrast this with what we have in Joseph’s story as well as other examples in the Bible, of prophets having dreams as visions that are given by God. We all have dreams and certainly, I am not arguing that all dreams are from God. However, could it be that God does communicate with us in our dreams? Genesis 41 speaks about the Pharoah who had two dreams that were given by God, about the future (Gen 41:25). If God can use dreams to reveal the future to a Pharoah or a king like Nebuchadnezzar (see Dan 2 and Dan 4), then could our dreams also be used by God to speak to us? Again, I am certainly not implying that all dreams or thoughts are God given.
Is. 55:8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD.”
Yet, for any true follower of God, we can all speak about experiences that we can point to and affirm that God gave a certain thought or dream. I remember one experience when I was on a medical mission work in Guatemala. A young child was brought to us who was very sick with presumed pneumonia. As going to the hospital was not an option in this remote area, we had to teach a person to act as a nurse and give antibiotic injections to this child for several days. It was later that evening, I was disturbed in my mind that we needed to make a visit to the patient. The next day, I got our translators and guide to take us to the home of the patient. What I failed to realize was the remoteness of their home. It took us about 2 hours to walk to their home. Needless to say, we were all exhausted by this near 4-hour round trip hike through forest, hills, and fields.
When we arrived at their home, we found a one room shack with dirt floor that the whole family lived in. As I was inquiring about the sick patient, a child vomited right at my feet. Thinking that this was the patient with pneumonia we saw the previous day, we were about to reexamine the patient when we were told that this was the patient’s brother, and he was also very sick. After examining this brother, we diagnosed him with pneumonia and could see that he was just as sick as his brother. Eventually we were able to give both the patients their needed antibiotics to treat their illness. What I remember most distinctly about this experience was the comment of one of the translators who confided in me that he was not happy about trekking 4 hours on foot, to reach this family, but when he saw the need of the second sick child, he said, “Now I know, why God had us come to this family’s home.”
I believe God wants to communicate to us, His people, at all times. I think we have trouble hearing and understanding because of our lack of spiritual perception. When we do, perhaps we will understand that heavenly dreams and God given thoughts are “manifestation of higher powers.”
Joel 2:28 “And it shall come to pass afterward,
that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh;
your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
your old men shall dream dreams,
and your young men shall see visions.”
We have many other examples of God using dreams to warn and encourage people in the Bible. I do definitely believe that many of our dreams and thoughts are not God given but yet some are God given and we must be able to spiritually discern the difference. When we are able to discern God given dreams and thoughts, we will know His will and directions in our life and decisions. What a blessed thought!