My youngest son Jon called yesterday to tell me that he dreamed that he died and went to heaven. He said heaven was much fun and he had a blast. One of the highlights was spending time riding numerous water slides through various tunnels. He also dreamed that he and I had begun our own denomination called the “Evangelists”. Our denomination’s numbers were larger than the Baptists, Methodists, etc. all put together and we conducted a large service on the beach in Los Angeles; 20,000 people attended and all were lined up facing four different directions, north south, east and west. Huge big screens rolled down and our special guest speaker was Shaquille O’Neal.
God told Jon he could not stay in heaven and prepared to send him back to earth to rejoin his family and then he told him that I would die this coming Thursday.
Jon told me, “I hate to tell you dad, but your days are surely numbered”.
I responded, “That’s okay, I look forward to dying”.
He laughed and said that he dreamed that I would say that too.
Hmmm . . . What to make of this…
Ironically I’m currently reading a book, Babylon Rising, about old King Nebuchadnezzar and Daniel. The king had a dream and no one could interpret it until Daniel came along and easily did so.
So do I need Daniel’s dream-interpretive skills for Jon’s dream?
Let’s see, Jon died and went to heaven and sampled the water park, he was sent back with a message from God that I would die this coming Thursday, (I’m hopping on a plane to California Thursday). We established a very large denomination called the Evangelists. 20,000 worshippers faced four directions on the beach in L.A., big screens in the sky, Shaq speaking…
Hmmm . . . What is the significance of the water slide? The Evangelists? The 20,000? Facing the four corners of the earth? Los Angeles? The beach? The big screens? Shaq? Me dying on Thursday – Why not on Sunday whereby I can complete the week out with the Bill Glass Weekend of Champions Behind the Walls team?
Where is Daniel when we need him?
Do I need Daniel for this dream?
Naw, I already know what this dream is about.
Indigestion . . .
Dreams in the Bible served three purposes of which I’m aware:
- There were times when God used a dream to give a warning
- There were times when God used a dream to encourage
- There were times when God used a dream to reveal prophecy
So do dreams come from God today?
Hmmm . . . I don’t think He does much of this. As for warnings, God used dreams in the Bible, (primarily in the Old Testament), to warn men of sin and wrong, but today we have His completed word, the Holy Bible that will keep us from sin.
The same holds true with encouragement. The Bible is full of encouragement and we don’t need dreams to be encouraged; we need only read the Bible to obtain all of the encouragement that we will ever need.
As for prophecy, dreams were often used by God for the purpose of revealing prophecy, yet today we have within the word of God the revelation of the future events that God wants to make known to men.
Currently I’m writing a novel, (that is coming along nicely and I hope to have completed towards the end of the year), about the prophecy by Joel and later referred to by Peter when he spoke the following words:
In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will
dream dreams (Acts 2:17).
In part, that was fulfilled that same day Peter spoke those words at Pentecost, but they would also have to still be relevant today and therefore a definite possibility since we are living in “the last days” now. In other words, God is definitely speaking to people today through dreams. Consider the myriad of reports that are currently coming in from all over the world about Jesus revealing Himself in dreams to various people all over the world, primarily those elders in closed societies that will not allow Bibles in their countries such as Pakistan, China, Iran, Saudi Arabia and other closed societies which persecute Christians.
A very important point to remember about dreams however is that not every dream, vision, or premonition is from God, (even if they show supernatural evidence), and we should not merely assume that God is their source. This can be a very dangerous assumption. In 1 John 4:1 God instructs us to “try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.”
I believe some dreams are from satan and are sent to worry and discourage. My father recently dreamed that I committed suicide. Dad said it was the most disturbing dream he ever experienced, (which is understandable in light of his having lived through the horror of my only brother Jim’s suicide). I believe that evil dream was sent by satan and its purpose was to torment this pitiable 92 year old man with worry.
If my son’s dream was sent to worry me about dying, it had just the opposite effect. It didn’t worry or torment me, because I rely upon my faith in God and His promise of living eternity in heaven upon my death to actually relish the thought of dying, (especially riding those water slides).
I’ll hop on a plane this Thursday with little regard to my son’s dream. If his prediction is true and my plane goes down and I die as his dream predicts, I hope he gets on the Today Show, becomes exceedingly famous, and gets booked all over the world for handsome fees discussing his dreams with talking heads from media outlets innumerable. Then I hope he uses those funds to further the work of his new denomination, the Evangelists.
As for me I’ll be hitting the water slides and tunnels of heaven in my brand new glorified body.
Yippee!
I look forward to entering heaven with great anticipation and there is no fear or dread whatsoever . . . Until that wonderful day when it’s my turn to ride the merry-go-round, I’ll keep on trying to spread the good news, (Gospel), to those who want the peace of God that surpasses all understanding through Jesus Christ in their lives.
As for the dream below – Well that one is from God and like Forrest Gump all I have to say about that is: Now that’s what I’m talking ‘bout!
Matthew 1:21
And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.