The Doctrine of Dreams
Richard L. Ruble
“That dreams have been and are valuable means of shaping men’s thoughts and careers cannot be denied, and as such, have played an important part in the social and moral life of individuals and of society.”1
Few subjects draw such interest as dreams and their interpretation. Some of the world’s greatest thinkers have studied dreams, including Jung, Murphy, and Fromm. Sigmund Freud, famous founder of psychoanalysis, published his first book in 1900 entitled The Interpretation of Dreams.
Few Christian writers have turned their attention to the subject of dreams. A search for information on this topic from Christian sources turns up only a few articles in Bible dictionaries. There is no mention of dreams in the systematic theologies of Bancroft, Berkhof, Chafer, Hodge, Strong, or Thiessen.
In this article some of the salient features about the doctrine of dreams will be considered. The subject will be discussed in three parts: the doctrine of dreams in the Old Testament, the doctrine of dreams in the New Testament, and the doctrine of dreams today.
the doctrine of dreams in the old testament
The Hebrew word for dream, chalom, occurs sixty-four times in the Old Testament. In the King James Version it is translated dream sixty-three times and dreamer one time. It appears in fourteen books although it occurs most often in Genesis and Daniel.
Number of Dreams. There are sixteen dreams recorded in the Old Testament (Gen. 20:3, 6; 28:12; 31:10–11, 24; 37:5, 9; 40:5; 41:1, 5; Judg. 7:13; 1 Kings 3:5; Dan. 2:1; 4:5; 7:1).2 Jacob had three dreams. Those who had two dreams each were Joseph, Pharaoh, and Nebuchadnezzar. Abimelech, Laban, Pharaoh’s butler, Pharaoh’s baker, a soldier, Solomon, and Daniel each had one dream. As can be seen from this listing, the dreamers included heathen as well as God’s chosen people.3
Of the sixteen dreams, ten involved symbols. When symbols were used in the dream interpretation became necessary. The two most frequent interpreters of dreams were Joseph and Daniel. They were involved as dreamer or interpreter in all the symbolic dreams except one. Judges 7:13 is the exception.
Joseph and Daniel were successful as dream interpreters because God Gave to them the interpretations. Joseph said that he could not interpret unless God helped him (Gen. 40:8; 41:16) and Daniel likewise gave the credit to God (Dan. 2:22, 28).
Dreamers (God’s people, heathen). Many Old Testament dreams were unpleasant to the dreamer.4 Eight out of the sixteen dreams recorded in the Old Testament had content which troubled the dreamer. For example, after Pharaoh had his dreams, his “spirit was troubled” (Gen. 41:8). Nebuchadnezzar’s first dream was so unpleasant that “his spirit was troubled, and his sleep brake from him” (Dan. 2:1). Of his second dream Nebuchadnezzar said: “I saw a dream which made me afraid, and the thoughts upon my bed and the visions of my head troubled me” (Dan. 4:5). While no particular dream is recorded for Job, he states that he had experienced the horror of an unpleasant dream: “Then thou scarest me with dreams, and terrifiest me through visions: so that my soul chooseth strangling, and death rather than my life” (Job 7:14–15).
Purpose of dreams. In the Old Testament God often used dreams to reveal His will. God promised to show His will unto the prophets in dreams (Num. 12:6).5 Job said that “God speaketh … in a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falleth upon men, in slumberings upon the bed” (Job 22:14–15). In half of the Old Testament dreams the source of the dream is specifically stated to be God. Through these dreams God revealed His will to the dreamers.
While God sometimes spoke in dreams, not all dreams were attributable to Him. Dreams whose contents did not accord with reality were obviously not from God. One of the tests of a true prophet was whether his dreams came true (Deut. 13:1–5). The Israelites were warned against false dreamers (Jer. 29:8; Zech. 10:2). Dreams were inferior in comparison to having God’s Word (Gen. 12:6–8; Jer. 23:28).6
the doctrine of dreams in the new testament
There are two Greek words translated dream. One word, ὄναρ, occurs six times in the New Testament. It occurs only in Matthew. Each time it is translated “dream” in the King James Version. Another Greek word for dream, ἐνύπνιον, found only in Acts 2:17. It is translated dream in the King James Version. The verbal form of ἐνύπνιον (ἐνυπνιάζω) occurs in Acts 2:17 and Jude 8. Dreams or dreamers are thus referred to in only three New Testament books: Matthew, Acts, and Jude.
There are more recorded dreams in the Old Testament than in the New Testament. Whereas sixteen dreams occur in the Old Testament record, only six are given in the New Testament (Matt. 1:20; 2:12–13, 19, 22; 27:19). The dreamers in the New Testament include Joseph, who had four dreams; the wise men; and Pilate’s wife. Pilate’s wife is the only female dreamer mentioned in the Bible. Interestingly, Jesus never mentioned dreams. There is no symbology in New Testament dreams and therefore no need of an interpreter.
Of the six New Testament dreams, only one is specifically mentioned as being unpleasant in nature. Pilate’s wife in a dream “suffered many things” (Matt. 27:19).
God revealed His will in dreams in the New Testament just as He did in the Old Testament. In dreams Joseph was instructed to take Mary as his wife (Matt. 1:20, to flee into Egypt to save Jesus’ life (Matt. 2:13), to return to Israel when Herod was dead (Matt. 2:19); and to settle in Galilee (Matt. 2:22). The wise men were “warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod …” (Matt. 2:12).
In the New Testament, just as in the Old Testament, there is an indication that false dreamers are not God-approved. Jude warned against filthy dreamers who “defile the flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities” (Jude 8).
In the New Testament there is one citation of an Old Testament passage dealing with the subject of dreams (Joel 2:28). In this citation Peter at Pentecost recites to the throng the prophecy concerning the activity of God’s outpouring of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:16–21).
the doctrine of dreams today
Scientific research has shown that everyone dreams every night.7 It has also shown that dreams can be caused by a variety of conditions such as poor blood circulation, improper ventilation, and uncomfortable sleeping position, or overeating. Sigmund Freud spoke of “those disagreeable dreams one has only when one’s stomach is upset.”8
Obviously dreams have a diverse etiology. As was seen in the foregoing discussion, in Biblical times some dreams were caused by God. However, does God give dreams to people today in post-Biblical times? Or are dreams today better explained by other conditions and causes? Thomas Aquinas is exemplary of those who believe that dreams in the Christian era sometimes come from God. He said that dreams are: “… sometimes referable to God, who reveals certain things to men in their dreams by the ministry of angels, according to Num. 12:5.… Accordingly we must say there is no lawful divination in making use of dreams for the foreknowledge of the future, so long as those dreams are due to divine revelation.…”9
A. J. Gordon did not claim that extra-Biblical dreams reveal the future. Nevertheless, he did agree with Thomas Aquinas in allowing that dreams may come from God. He wrote of the effect of one of his dreams and then gave instances of other dreams which had proved potent factors in human affairs. “Those who are familiar with the history of Catherine of Siena know how repeated and striking were her visions by day and by night; and readers of the life of Richard Baxter will recall his marked experience, and vivid vision of lost opportunities which so quickened his afteractivity; Christmas Evans, also, that prince of Welsh preachers … always believed that … dreams were God’s messengers sent to communicate to him some of the mightiest impulses that swayed his life.10
Both Thomas Aquinas and A. J. Gordon believed that dreams in the post-Biblical era could come from God. However, it is doubtful that God has communicated with men by dreams since the close of the canon. Arthur B. Fowler says that God “could reveal his will in dreams today, but the written Word of God, and the indwelling Holy Spirit have made dreams of this sort unnecessary.”11
There is no Biblical evidence for the contention that God speaks today in dreams. God speaks today in His Word (2 Tim. 3:16–17). He has given the Holy Spirit to every Christian to lead him into the truth (John 16:13; 1 Cor. 6:19–20). With the Bible in his hand and the Holy Spirit in his heart, the Christian has ample provision for guidance into God’s perfect will.[1]
1 Walter C Clippinger, “Dream, Dreamer,” The International Bible Encyclopedia, edited by James Orr, 1957, II, 224.
2 Some writers include other dreams not so designated in the Old Testament. For instance, cf. Merrill F. Unger, Unger’s Bible Dictionary, p. 275.
3 “Hence, when in Scripture God frequently favors heathen with dreams of truth, He does not thereby sanctify every dream; but only uses dreams to influence the men whom He takes under the guidance of His wisdom.…” John P. Lange, Judges, p. 127.
4 Psychological research has revealed that unpleasant dreams occur more frequently than pleasant ones. Edwin Diamond, The Science of Dreams, p. 83. No wonder Shakespeare cautioned: “Let not our babbling dreams affright our souls.”
5 “Dreaming and the prophetic function seem to have been closely associated (Deut. 13:1, 3, 5).… The prophet must be a seer, a man of visions and ideals. As such he would be subject, as in his waking states, so in his sleeping states, to extraordinary experiences.” Clippinger, op. cit., II, 875.
6 “It may be concluded from 1 Sam. 28:6, in which a scale of the forms of revelation is given, that it (a dream) stands lowest among the forms of revelation …” Gustave Friederich Oehler, Theology of the Old Testament, pp. 142–43.
7 Diamond, op. cit., pp. 17–18.
8 Ibid., pp. 43–44.
9 Quoted in Erich Fromm, The Forgotten Language, p. 116. J. Stafford Wright gives examples of precognitive dreams in his book, Man in the Process of Time, p. 57. Voltaire believed that the predictive value of dreams was coincidental. He said that “one dream accomplished has more effect than 100 which fail.” Diamond, op. cit., p. 232.
10 A. J. Gordon, How Christ Came to Church, pp. 95–96.
11 Arthur B. Fowler, “Dream,” The Zondervan Pictorial Bible Dictionary, edited by Merrill C. Tenney, p. 224. F. F. Bruce agrees with Fowler when he says that dreams today are not the source “of authoritative directions.” F. F. Bruce, “Dreams,” Dictionary of the Bible, edited by James Hastings, pp. 222.
[1] Ruble, Richard L. “The Doctrine of Dreams.” Bibliotheca Sacra 125 (1968): 360–364. Print.