God spoke to people in Old Testament times in dreams and visions and even in New Testament times by this manner, does this mean we can expect God to speak to us today by dreams and visions. I don’t believe it necessarily does.
Yes, I know there are those that will disagree about his and that people have written books about how we can still expect God to speak to us in this manner today. These people will say that God hasn’t changed. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. Certainly that is true. So what has changed?
What has changed is that there is no longer such a need for dreams and visions, as there once was, because now we have the full revelation of God. In the bible, God has told us all we need to know for Christian living. If we can’t be bothered or are too lazy to spend time reading His Word and finding out what God has to say to us, then why should God bother to speak to us at all? If we refuse to make time to read His guidebook for living – the Maker’s manual, then is it reasonable for God to say. ‘Oh okay then I’ll just tell you some other way.’ I don’t think so.
After all, dreams are open to interpretation. Even so called experts in the area of dreams don’t always agree about their meaning. It depends on too many variables. It’s also an easy avenue for our own desires to come out or for Satan to interfere, which is another reason we need to be wary of expecting God to answer in dreams and visions.
Another point worth noting is that whenever God spoke to someone by dreams and visions it was NOT because they were expecting God to. It was something God chose to do and often came as a huge surprise to the person concerned.
So does this mean I believe God never gives dreams and visions today? No it does not. I have even had the rare experience of this. But not because I was expecting God to answer in this way. More often, God speaks to me as I spend time with Him in prayer and read His Word. After all, that’s why He sent Jesus and why He gave the Scriptures to us.
And if something did come by way of a dream, I would not act on it unless it was confirmed by Scripture. God never contradicts Himself. He is constant and faithful. So anything He tells us can be confirmed by Scripture since all Scripture ‘is God-breathed and is useful for teaching,rebuking,correcting and training in righteousness,so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for evry good work,’ 2 Timothy 3:16-17.
Now that the changes and rearranges have settled down on families.com, I hope you’ll join me each Tuesday for reflections on the Bible and its teaching and help in our Christian lives.
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What to Do When a Friend is in Danger
Does It Matter What You Believe?