How to Interpret Dreams and Vision by Perry Stone

 

In Acts 2:17, the Lord says He would pour out His Spirit upon all flesh, in the last days, and the result would be young men seeing visions and old men dreaming dreams.

THE LAST DAYS-TIME TO PIERCE THE VEIL

There is a veil covering the physical eyes and our spiritual understanding. from seeing invisible things, even though, these invisible things are in existence. Some people do not believe, at all, in this existence, but this doesn’t stop them from being in existence. Only when this veil is torn or pierced, can we get to see these things. The Bible is full of men who pierced this veil. Elisha could see in this realm. When the Syrian army surrounded him, and his servant, he had to pray for his servant’s eyes to be opened, so he could see the chariots of fire encamped around them. On, earth, our inner vision, which causes the brain to see pictures, at night, can perceive some of these happenings in the invisible world. And God shows us things to prepare us for something, or cause us to intercede in prayer to change situations.

THE DREAM FACTOR

From Adam, till the law came were hundreds of years. Righteous men received instructions from God through dreams and visions. Some think that since we have the Bible, there is no need for God to reveal Himself to us through dreams and visions, but the Bible clearly states that in the last days, God will pour out His Spirit upon us, and there will be dreams and visions. Some people dream often, while others dream seldomly. When the dream holds a cryptic message, it could be one of these three categories: 1. Happens to people who have the occasional dream, but with a special message. 2. Those with a natural gift of seeing future events through dreams like those ancient empires who had kings like King Nebuchadnezzar, Pharoah, who dreamed.3. this category refers to those who have received a special gift of revelation and illumination like Jacob, and his son, Joseph, was transferred this gift.

WHY ARE SOME DREAMS DELAYED IN COMING TO PASS

The dream about 9/11, which God revealed to the author, didn’t come to pass immediately, and he was somewhat impatient. After this, there were other dreams he had about storms that would affect people in different ways, and he saw their manifestations. Afterward, he understood the meaning of the five storms he saw in the 9/11 dream. Just like this experience, there would be dreams whose meaning may not be completely understood immediately. However, if the dream or vision is a national warning, the events will come to pass, unless repentance can alter the outcome. Encouraging dreams could still take years before they finally happen, but the time difference is a period of undergirding your faith. At a point, the author received a dream about his unborn daughter, and shortly his wife became pregnant, but it was a boy. She got pregnant again but lost it to miscarriage. Nevertheless, in this despair, God strengthened her until their little girl, Amanda, arrived.

NIGHTMARES AND DIRTY DREAMING

People may have scary or dirty dreams in the night, which is referred to, usually, as nightmares. This word is linked to a 12th-century word, nigt mare, which is the name of a female spirit attempting to afflict a sleeper with the feeling of suffocation at night. From a Jewish point of view, nightmares and dirty dreams may be the result of a demonic spirit in the room of the person attempting to sleep or sleep. Hence, praying before going to bed is very essential. Not just before going to bed, in the morning when you begin your day, and in the evening when you end your day. The source of nightmares can be the atmosphere surrounding you, the spirits ruling over the region, or the signs and sounds stuck in your head. Therefore, to stop them, you must set the atmosphere in the room. Playing music or God’s word on a tape helps to purge the atmosphere. You must renew the mind by the spirit through the word, and claim the promises of rest. Psalm 4:8 reads, “I will both lie down in peace, and sleep; for You alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety”, Proverbs 3: 24 reads, “When you lie down, you will not be afraid; yes, you will lie down and your sleep will be sweet”(NKJV). 

FALSE PROPHETS AND FALSE DREAMS

Dreams are a revelation from God, but one should not rely on dreams to live their life, but by the word of GOD. Dreams are always in line with His word. In ancient times, one major thorn in their flesh was the presence of false prophets who predicted fake prophecies. The story of the lying prophets in the days of King Ahab was one of the prophets who told contrary to what they saw. Micaiah was the only prophet who spoke the truth to Kind Jehoshaphat. When we desire earnestly to hear from God. We should feed ourselves with His word, which is living. This is a sure way to avoid being misled. Some prophets would mislead the masses for gain. Simeon the sorcerer, in the days of apostle peter was an example. He was bargaining for the anointing.

THE PSYCHIC VOICES VERSUS THE PROPHETIC VISIONS

When empires are under spiritual siege by the forces of darkness, there will be war between the kingdom of darkness and the Kingdom of God. Just like in the days of Moses, when the Egyptian magicians competed with Moses when his rod turned into a snake. Also, in the time of Elijah, when the prophets of Baal contested with the Prophet Elijah and failed. Most Secular people believe that a prophetic vision declared by a man of God is synonymous with one they would receive from a medium. But this is wrong. Believers must believe that God can reveal the truth to his children. 1 cor. 14:6,26 describes how believers can receive revelation. When Jesus was leaving, He promised that He would send the Holy Spirit to teach us. Without the Holy Spirit, the Acts of the Apostles would be very little. The gifts of the Holy Spirit were manifested and that was what brought about the Acts of the Apostles. These gifts will continue until Christ returns, according to 1 Corinthians 1:7. All through scriptures, there are several pieces of evidence of God revealing His plans to His Children through dreams, visions, and angelic visitations. These days, the Spirit of God has been poured forth. Therefore, believers should never seek to know things through men working under the influence of familiar spirits. The Bible is a book of revelation. The Bible contains everything new you need to know. 

CAN A WARNING DREAM BE ALTERED THROUGH PRAYER? -Ezek. 22:30

Perry Stone, in this chapter, shares how the Israelites were allowed to repent through scriptures. The Church in Thyatira was given a period of repentance. Warnings and mercy always precede judgments. For many warning dreams, attacks can be prevented or altered through prayers. There would be a danger if we accept whatever attack we see in a dream. 

LEARNING TO LISTEN TO YOUR WIFE’S WARNING DREAMS - Matt. 27:19

One of the most interesting but often overlooked experiences in scripture was the one Pilate had. He was to condemn Jesus to be crucified, but his wife had warned him. She said that she had suffered many things because of him in her sleep. It was very probable she dreamt about it. The Bible didn’t directly say she was a believer, but history has it that she eventually became a Christian, and the Ethiopian Orthodox Church celebrates her as Saint Procula (Saint Claudia). Pilate indicated that he didn’t want to be a part of crucifying Jesus (who was innocent), but the people wanted it. He washed his hands (which was a Jewish custom of declaring innocence from the blood to be shed), and the people said they wouldn’t mind if the blood of Jesus was on them and their children. Pilate must have been moved by his wife’s warning dream. The female’s radar is very sensitive to spiritual things. Women should do well not to abuse this gift. It should be used to the furtherance of the gospel. 

WHAT IT MEANS WHEN DREAMING OF A DEPARTED LOVED ONE – 2 Cor. 5: 8

People who are about to die could see other saints and believers who died in Christ. Sometimes God would allow us to see a departed loved one to bring back positive memories, to give us hope for the resurrection, or to give us a premonition of death. Dreams of your death could either be out of fear for the future of your loved ones (especially children), or it could be a revelation of the real occurrence. When there is a premonition that death is going to happen, we must intercede on this.

THE LAW OF THE DOUBLE DREAM – Gen. 41:32

Pharoah’s dream occurred twice, indicating that it was established (Gen.41:25,32). In many instances of God’s call, it occurred once. But the Bible shows the instances when God called twice. It happened to Abraham on Mount Moriah (Gen. 22:11). Samuel heard his name twice (1 Sam. 3:10). Jesus, also, called Simon twice (Luke 22:31). Saul, the proud Pharisee, heard his name twice, on his way to Damascus (Acts 9:4). The Bible outlines the importance of the number two. “Two are better than one…” (Ecc. 4: 9-12)“…If two of you agree,,,” (Matt 18:18-20). Two people in the agreement have more authority together. The law of God, also, established the testimony of two witnesses (Num. 35:30), (Deut. 19:15).

ANGEL APPEARANCES IN DREAMS – Gen. 28:12

When an angel appears in a dream or vision, the angel will more often appear in form of a man, and rarely, but occasionally, a woman. The angel will often call you a son or daughter when speaking. The angel will inform you that the message is from the Lord.

WHY THE SYMBOLISM-CAN’T GOD MAKE IT PLAIN? – Gen. 41: 1-4

Sometimes, unique things must happen for us to take caution. Most people dream every other day, and the dream could be simple. But when we have one quite different from the others, we know that it is not normal. We can distinguish between just random dreams and dreams to note when there are symbols that cause us not to forget the dream. Our dreams must be complicated, at times, with special symbols, to take them seriously.

FOUR TYPES OF SPIRITUAL VISIONS

In the book of Daniel, there are four different words for vision. ‘Chazown’ is a word for mental sight. Dan. 1:17. Chezev is the Aramaic word for sight or vision. Dan 2:19. Mar’ah is the word for reflection in a mirror according to Dan. 10:7-8. The word Mar’eh means sight or appearance in Dan 10:1. These words tell that visions occur in various ways. The vision is different from dreams because the dream would likely emerge in the realm of the soul, while the vision will be in the realm of the Spirit.

DREAMS-AMAZING PURPOSE FOR REVELATIONS Acts 2:17

An average nominal Christian would like to believe that God doesn’t speak to us, these days, except through His words. But this is far from the truth. God still speaks to His children. Perry Stone gives five ways in which God speaks to us.

• He speaks to the conscience of the person.
• He speaks to the inner spirit of a person.
• He speaks by using others’ wise counsel.
• Today, he speaks using the vocal gifts of the Spirit.
• God speaks through dreams and visions.

DREAMS AND VISIONS-GOD’S VOICE OF INTIMACY

Author Perry Stone believes that understanding God’s purpose of revealing himself to us involves four aspects of our walk with Him. It involves understanding his plan, understanding his place, knowing that there is the provision of God, and understanding the purpose of God.

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