How to Interpret Dreams Isaiah 29:8; Revelations 5:13 Rev. Min J. Chung (Large Group, September 9, 2016) Isaiah 29:8 8 As when a hungry man dreams, and behold, he is eating and awakes with his hunger not satisfied, or as when a thirsty man dreams, and behold, he is drinking and awakes faint, with his thirst not quenched, so shall the multitude of nations be that fight against Mount Zion. Revelations 5:13 13 And I heard every creature that is in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying, To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever! Introduction Praise the LORD! Today I d like to look into this topic of interpreting dreams. It may not seem like daydreams and the dreams we have while we sleep are connected, but I believe as we look into the Bible, daydreams and night dreams are correlated. I. Dream by night Isaiah 29:8 8 As when a hungry man dreams, and behold, he is eating and awakes with his hunger not satisfied, or as when a thirsty man dreams, and behold, he is drinking and awakes faint, with his thirst not quenched, so shall the multitude of nations be that fight against Mount Zion. Ecclesiastes 5:3 3 For a dream comes with much business, and a fool s voice with many words. Why do we dream? Researchers are still trying to figure out exactly why we dream. Some say there is a biological explanation that says sleep is essential for memory consolidation. They believe dreams work hand in hand with sleep to help the brain soar through everything it collects during the waking hours. During sleep, your brain works to sort through the information so there will not be excess. Others say there is a psychological explanation. Two famous psychologists who analyzed dreams were Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung. While Jung was Freud s successor, each had totally different views on the matter. Freud believed that our dreams are manifestations of our deepest and darkest sexual desires, so any symbol in the dream was related to sexual desires we have
hidden in us. Jung had a more simple approach: he believed that we can all interpret our dreams, and the meanings are not necessarily sexual. He felt that dreams are related to our desires. Jung said, Your vision will become clear only when you look into your own heart. Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes. Jung said dreams are related to our desires and longings, which is close to what the Bible says. Isaiah 29:8 says that when you are hungry, you dream about food, and when you are thirsty, you dream about drinking. There are a few observations about dreams you can make from the verse. Dreams are an expression of your longing. Your addiction or central desire may be related to food, sex, sports, winning, or success. However, dreams will not lead you to the fulfillment of your longing. You eat it in your dream, but your stomach is still not satisfied. You drink it in your dream, but your thirst is not quenched. Ecclesiastes suggests that dreams are accompanied by many worries; dreams you have when you sleep are an expression of your heart s longing. II. Dream by day A. Dream by day what daydreams do you have? Proverbs 16:1,9 1 The plans of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from the LORD. 9 The heart of the man plans his way, but the LORD establishes his steps. What is the goal of your life? Everybody has a plan, from small to large. We all have dreams that we will live for. The problem is that our dreams are related to the selfishness within our hearts; our fulfillment, our goals, our happiness, our pleasure. B. Dreams that we are created for Psalm 139:13-14 13 For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother s womb. 14 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are you works; my soul knows it very well. The Scripture says that we are created to live for something bigger than our little selves. God has grand plans, and you are created to live to be part of it. You are carefully, fearfully, wonderfully made, even inside the womb! God has meticulously crafted you to live for something greater than yourself, so learn to have the right kind of daydream.
III. Dreams in general Ecclesiastes 5:3, 7 3 For a dream comes with much business, and a fool s voice with many words. 7 For when dreams increase and words grow many, there is vanity, but God is the one you must fear. I believe both the daydream and the night dream show what is in our hearts. When worries increase, all your dreams are about scary things. Dreams are functions of the mind, and the mind is the pathway to the heart, according to the Bible. What happens in the mind, whether a day or night dream, is related to the heart.. A. The mind reveals the heart brings out Matthew 15:19 19 For out of the heart comes evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. What is in our hearts comes through the mind. Your dream is an uncontrolled that comes from what s inside your mind. If you are worried about an exam and dream about it, your dream uses the data in your mind. It could be expressing your worry over getting a bad grade, leading to not finding a job, and then not getting married. No marriage, no family you will be alone all of your life. You will die unhappy. It is all related to your heart. You might not consciously think all of that, but your mind, through the dream, reveals your heart. B. The mind reshapes the heart takes in Philippians 4:7-8 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. 8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Through our mind, we can put things into the heart. Paul says that you can guard your heart through your mind, as the mind is a pathway to the heart. To guard the heart and make sure the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, is in you, you need to absorb excellent things. If both daydreams and night dreams express the heart, then by controlling what we take in, we can control our daydreams and night dreams. When I was young, I usually dreamed about flying. I wanted to be honored and great and worshipped. During high school, I dreamed a lot about girls, because I really wanted girlfriends in high school. When I started to care about my studies, in college and seminary, I dreamed about falling off a cliff, or that something was chasing me: dreams related to worry. Having become a pastor, my nightmare is going up to the pulpit and being unprepared. Then I wondered I ve had any good, Biblical dreams. There were nights I woke up crying because in my dream I was trying to show Jesus to somebody and that person would not receive Jesus. Sometimes I would think about a nation that
does not know Jesus in my dream, and I would wake up weeping, because they need to experience the love of Christ. These dreams revealed my heart. Dreams usually reveal our heart, but they can be revelatory. Once, I dreamt about a word that I did not know existed in English, and as soon as I woke up, I looked it up in the dictionary. It was about another pastor and a weakness in his spiritual life. The next ten years became his downfall. I have had a few revelatory dreams, but it does not occur often. IV. Dreams by God Now the Bible spans a few thousand years of redemptive human history, but there are few dreams mentioned. Even in the Bible, dreams are not the normal way of God s communication. These days, people will say God speaks to them in dreams. Usually it is not true or revelatory; it is just their imagination, or an expression of their desire. But there are times God does speak to us through dreams. A. Case Study #1 Joseph Genesis 37:5-9 5 Now Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers they hated him even more. 6 He said to them, Hear this dream that I have dreamed: 7 Behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and behold, my sheaf arose and stood upright. And behold, your sheaves gathered around it and bowed down to my sheaf. 8 His brothers said to him, Are you indeed to reign over us? Or are you indeed to rule over us? So they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words. 9 Then he dreamed another dream and told it to his brothers and said, Behold, I have dreamed another dream. Behold, the sun, the moon, and eleven stars were bowing down to me. Revelation 5:13-14 13 And I heard every creature that is in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying, To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever! 14 And the four living creatures said, Amen! and the elders fell down and worshiped. First, Joseph tells brothers that they would all bow down to him. His father already showed him favoritism, so they hated him, but because he boasted like this, they hated him even more. Then he has another very similar dream, but possibly including his parents bowing down to him. His dreams become fulfilled at the end of the story when Joseph becomes the prime minister of Egypt, when not only his family but the whole nation in fact, the whole world bowed down to him because God used Joseph to feed many people during the famine and save the nation of Israel. This revelation is not just about Joseph in the Bible; it points forward to Jesus. Revelations in the Bible are redemptive, and always show someone or something representing Jesus. Joseph s dream was pointing forward to Jesus who would save not only the Egyptians and nations during that era, but the whole world in human history as we all bow down as a family of God to our LORD Jesus Christ.
B. Case Study #2 Daniel Daniel 2:1, 3, 44-45 1 In the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams; his spirit was troubled, and his sleep left him. 3 And the king said to them, I have a dream, and my spirit is troubled to know the dream. 44 And in the days of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed, nor shall the kingdom be left to another people. It shall break in pieces all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and it shall stand forever, 45, just as you saw that a stone was cut from a mountain by no human hand, and that it broke in pieces the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold. A great God has made known to the king what shall be after this. The dream is certain, and its interpretation sure. Matthew 24:14 14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. Nebuchadnezzar was the king of Babylon, a superpower nation during its time as well. The king of Babylon had dreams, but he would not tell them to anyone so his wise men could not make up interpretations. He said that if someone really knew his dream, they would tell him what the dream was and then interpret it. Daniel, who had a relationship with God, was given the dream in a vision. He interpreted the dream about the human kingdoms of the world that were to come, the Babylonian kingdom, the Medo-Persian kingdom, the Greek kingdom, and the Roman kingdom; real kingdoms that existed consecutively in secular history. Daniel 2 says that these super nations were just human kingdoms symbolized by pieces of metal on a statue. While the secular human kingdoms will eventually fall, the kingdom of God is everlasting (Matthew 24:14). C. Case Study #3 Joseph Matthew 1:20-21 20 But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the LORD appeared to him in a dream, saying, Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins. This time, we ll talk about the Joseph of the New Testament. In the story of Christ s birth, Mary was to bear Jesus through a virgin pregnancy. Joseph did not know that and was going to break off their engagement, which was a serious as marriage in Jewish culture during that time. He was going to divorce her until Jesus is revealed in a dream. Joseph talked about worshipping Jesus because Jesus will save the world, and the passage in Daniel is about the person of Jesus. So all the dreams of the Scripture, directly or indirectly, point forward to Jesus Christ. Dreams are rare even in the Bible; they are not God s normal way of giving revelation, and after the fulfillment of the Old and New Testaments, they are even more rare. It is not impossible that God will give you a dream to guide you in the right direction so you can love Jesus more but it will be rare, so don t rely on it. If it does
happen, pray, and always use discernment to gauge whether the dream is from God or your own desires. Always test your dreams through the Scripture. We know that as we look into the Scripture, the whole Bible is really the dream of God. The Bible in its entirety is the dream, mind, and heart of God. So as we look into the Bible and meditate on the Scripture, we will dream His dream. Both daydreams and night dreams will converge with God s dream until they become the same. Then you can discern what he wants to desire and live for what is eternally great and awesome. V. Dreaming on A. Learn to interpret your dreams Daniel 1:17 As for these four youths, God gave them learning and skill in all literature and wisdom, and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams. This ought to be your prayer: pray to have such a relationship with God that you will have the wisdom to interpret dreams. Looking back at the dreams you ve had all throughout your life what is your dream? What is your biggest goal? What are you living for? You must interpret that to discover the fulfillment, happiness, purpose, and desire that lie within your heart. B. Learn to interpret God s dreams Genesis 41:15-16 15 And Pharaoh said to Joseph, I have had a dream, and there is no one who can interpret it. I have heard it said of you that when you hear a dream you can interpret it. 16 Joseph answered Pharaoh, It is not in me; God will give Pharaoh a favorable answer. When you accept Jesus Christ as your LORD and Savior, you have a new nature that is born in alignment with God. Now, your sin nature and Spirit s nature will always conflict, even as Christians. You have to learn to interpret your selfish dreams, and fight them with the dream of God. God has to help us interpret dreams in general, but also His dreams. The Bible is the dream and desire of God. He wants to save sinners; he wants to change and renew us, to help us live for something greater than ourselves. We must rely on God to overcome our problems. Do not listen to the Word of God and then forget about it. Do not treat the Word of God like gum, but like food. You cannot just chew it and then spit it out; you must chew it and swallow it so your heart can process it. You must meditate on it, taking time to read, think, pray, and live it out. You have not take the Word in your heart until you start to see the world through the Word, until you dream it at night and your daydreams start to change. Once the Word is internalized, it will set your heart on fire. You will have new dreams burning in your heart that are greater than yourself.
The world says to follow your heart but that is a dangerous thing because the Bible says our heart is the most deceitful thing of all things. We are desperately selfish and wicked. Do not follow your heart! No, lead your heart, the Bible says, control your heart; live for what is greater than yourself. C. Learn to dream kingdom dreams Revelation 5:13 13And I heard every creature that is in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying, To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever! Matthew 9:36-38 36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37 Then he said to his disciples, The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; 38 therefore pray earnestly to the LORD of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. Young men have strong passions. They would rather do noble deeds than useful ones. They think they know everything, and are always quite sure about it; this, in fact, is why they overdo everything. Elderly men have lived many years; they have often been taken in, and often made mistakes. The result is that they are sure about nothing and under-do everything. They think, but they never know ; and because of their hesitation they always add a possibly or a perhaps. They guide their lives too much by considerations of what is useful and too little by what is noble. They lack confidence in the future for most things go wrong, or anyhow turn out worse than one expects. Aristotle Aristotle thinks that young men are idealistic but stupid, but all men become realistic but cynical. Today s people, like how Aristotle describes old men, live in times when dreams and heroes have died. I think we need to be realistic and wise but we cannot lose our dreams. C.S. Lewis said, You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream, and I say you are never too young to do it either. If you are young, do not simply be idealistic, but Biblically idealistic. When you are old, still do not lose your dream. Dream big: God s dream is even bigger than that. As soon as you start to pursue a dream, your life wakes up and everything has meaning. Revelations 5:13 gives just a glimpse of the dream of God, where we are all headed. This is the saving of many live, many finding true happiness; something worth living for, as a true purpose lasts forever. We do not dream because we have an answer; we dream because we are created to dream. Our God is the God of dreams, and His dream is written all over the Scripture and in the hearts of all His people. Even at night, we long to see Jesus in our dream. We need to see what the dream of God is so we can participate in it. Only when we learn to dream can we teach and inspire others to soar. Never lose your dream, but make sure that your dream and God s dream converge as you give your heart and mind to the LORD. Give your blank sheet to the LORD and say, LORD, write your dream; help me participate in it.
Conclusion About twenty years ago, I prayed for God to give me a dream. He showed me his dream for our church in Matthew 9:36-38. I felt he was saying to me through those words, This is my dream, and this ought to be your dream, as you become a dreamer in this church. Pray earnestly to send out workers to the harvest! Now I have had many sweet dreams about the ministry of CFC related to this passage, and I have also had many nightmares. I have always overcome my nightmares with the dreams that God has given me. Sometimes I look at myself and ask, Can our dream be fulfilled? When I look at myself: impossible, when I look at people in CFC: improbably. But when I look at God, inevitable! God is going to do it! He will do a small part through us, so we must faithfully apply his grace in small things: individually and corporately. We need to grow, and we need to serve. This generation is a highlight generation; we focus on exciting and great things. But we do not see how much practice comes before the highlights. Likewise, you need to keep doing faithful, mundane things to be able to create highlights in your life. Read the Scripture, pray, grow, better your character, study diligently, and work faithfully. In the midst of all that, God will use you to create the highlight moments in your life. Do not be discouraged by failures because God will forgive you and strengthen you, and give you daily grace so that you can be faithful. I ve been here 26 years. 27 th year, I ll be ready. I love this quote: Dr. Seuss says You know you are in love when you can t fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams. I believe I am living in my dreams. There are hardships and difficulties; it s not easy. But I cannot believe that I can serve God. I cannot believe there is something I can for God, that I can live and die for that. I pray that you ll live in your dream for the Kingdom of God.