Dreams In The Light Of God's External Word

We're looking at the Bible's peculiar worldview (at least to the modern world). To do that I'm focusing on the fact that we all dream and consequently ask what the dreams mean. Psychological answers vary.  Freud thought they are symbolical representations of unconscious desires and thoughts. Others say that dreams are one's interpretation of signals generated by one's brain. Out of this come many creative ideas. Still others say that dreaming is the brain's computer-like process of cleaning up the previous day's clutter. And so it goes. There's no modern single, unifying understanding of why we dream or what our dreams mean.

To assist us in interpreting our dreams you can find whole dictionaries of dream symbols and terms such as "An A to Z Dream Dictionary." Others offer dream interpretation, based upon years of experience. Still others, claiming to be Christians, tell us they can teach us not merely to study about God, but how to have direct experiences of Him speaking to us in our dreams. It all sounds most enticing. But is that what the written, objective Word of God as contained in Holy Scripture teaches? Recall Dr. Luther's comment about enthusiasm quoted in my earlier post: 

"We should and must insist that God does not want to deal with us human beings, except by means of his external Word and sacrament. Everything that boasts of being from the Spirit apart from such a Word and sacrament is of the devil."

What does Luther mean by God's external Word? He means simply and emphatically the Scriptures. The very words of Scriptures are God's words, all of them. The Holy Spirit always blesses and brings salvation in Christ through the Word. No preached or taught word not based upon the Scriptures is the Word of God. The Holy Spirit comes and reveals God and His will in the Word of the Lord Christ. Anyone, therefore, who distorts or blasphemes the written Word will be judged by God. This was Luther's sola Scriptura principle. This claim is further founded on the total truthfulness, reliability and
consistency of Scripture. One text of Scripture does not contradict another, regardless of how ridiculous it may seem at first. To that end I quote again what Paul wrote to Timothy:

But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work. - 2Ti 3:14-17 ESV

 With that in mind, return with me to Joseph's dream experience as recorded by Matthew (Matt. 1:18-25). Joseph was of royal lineage, as Matthew emphasizes in the opening verses of his Gospel (Matt. 1:1-17). He traced that lineage all the way back to David and through David to Abraham himself. He knew of the promises recorded in the written Scriptures about the coming of the Messiah. He knew about the promised virgin birth of the One named Immanuel. A few examples:

To Abraham — "And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed." - Gen 12:2-3 ESV 

And again to Abraham —"I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies, and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice." - Gen 22:17-18 ESV 

To Isaac — "I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and will give to your offspring all these lands. And in your offspring all the nations of the earth shall be blessed" - Gen 26:4 ESV 

About the promised Messiah —"There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit. And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD. And his delight shall be in the fear of the LORD. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide disputes by what his ears hear, but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked. Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist, and faithfulness the belt of his loins." - Isa 11:1-5 ESV

To Ahaz, one of Judah's anointed kings — "And he said, "Hear then, O house of David! Is it too little for you to weary men, that you weary my God also? Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel." - Isa 7:13-14 ESV

There are numerous other passages of Scripture. Joseph knew them. He was a righteous and just man who sought ever to conduct his life according to the plans and will of God. He believed in the promises of the Messiah as recorded in Scripture. Therefore it was not at all impossible for him to accept what the angel said to him in his dream about Mary's pregnancy and the promised coming of the Messiah. His dream was a confirmation of God's external Word and in no way contrary to it.

The best counsel to any dreamer is based upon this record of Joseph's dreams as well as other dreams in Scripture. If you believe God has sent His messenger to speak to you, then test it carefully against the written Word. Ask especially how what you have seen and heard in your dream relates to God's will and plan to lead men to salvation and eternal life in Christ. Remember as well that we are all members one of another. No one of us owns nor can he control the Spirit. Invite other members of Christ's body to ponder with you your dream in the light of God's revelation in Scripture. Seek confirmation from other members of Christ's body. And at the same time be very conscious or the fact that demonic powers are also at work to lead us away from Christ and distort God's Word.

Bottom line: There's more indeed to this world than what we can see, taste, touch, smell and feel. There's more than we can measure with our scientific instruments and theorize about with our mathematics. Scripture teaches that men have contact with that other world in dreams and visions. But—and this is critical—our first, primary and most significant contact with the Spirit of God is in the written Word of Holy Scripture. As Jesus emphasized in his criticism of the Jews of His day,

And the Father who sent me has himself borne witness about me. His voice you have never heard, his form you have never seen, and you do not have his word abiding in you, for you do not believe the one whom he has sent. You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life. - Jhn 5:37-40 ESV