Part 6 (1/2)

Solomon 1 Kings 3:5-15 L.

Promise Requested a hearing heart

12.

Nebuchadnezzar Dan. 2:31-35 M.

Future Events Forgot dream (see Dan. 2:5)

13.

Nebuchadnezzar Dan. 4:10-18 M.

Warning Judgment for pridea” seven years; G.o.d rules and gives to whomever He wills

14.

Daniel Dan. 7:1-14 M.

Future Events Wrote the dream (see Dan. 7:1)

15.

Joseph Matt. 1:20-23 L.

Directive To marry Mary

16.

Wise Men Matt. 2:12 M.

Directive Warning about Herod's jealousy and to return home another way

17.

Joseph Matt. 2:13 L.

Directive Angel warns about Herod's attempt to kill Jesus and directs to Egypt

18.

Joseph Matt. 2:19-20 L.

Directive Angel directs to Israel

19.

Joseph Matt. 2:22 L.

Directive Warning to go into Galilee

20.

Pilate's Wife Matt. 27:19 M.

Warning Warned of suffering because of their part in judgment of Jesus *M/L = Metaphor or literal dream, Table B Metaphor or Literal It is imperative to recognize that the vast majority of dreams are metaphors. They come as parables, riddles, and puzzles to be decoded. Of the 20 dreams recorded in Scripture, 12 of them are symbolic in nature. That is, 60 percent are metaphors, compared with 40 percent that are literal (see Table B above). Literal dreams do not require interpretation because they do not consist of symbolic images. In our experience, the percentage of parable-type dreams is higher today than that of Scripture. This is probably because the Holy Spirit has been poured out and the Bible is more readily available.

As the majority of dreams come as parables, a very common mistake is to disregard such dreams because they utilize elements of something to which we have recently been exposed. Say, for example, I find a bee floating in the dishwater in the kitchen sink, and that night I dream about a swarm of bees. If I wake and say to myself, ”I had that dream because of that bee in the sink last night” and then dismiss it as nonsense, I have missed G.o.d's voice. This is because G.o.d takes the opportunity to use the images to which we have been freshly exposed to give us new perspectives on our spiritual walk. Just as Jesus related to fishermen with net casting (see Matt. 4:19), to farmers with seed sowing (see Matt. 13:1-9), and to a strongly relational society with scenes of marriage (see Matt. 22:37-39), so the Holy Spirit loves to use images fresh in our memories, often throwing in abstract elements and people we know to convey truth.

I experienced one such dream after watching a war movie with my wife. That night I had the following dream, A foreign army was invading, and I saw them at the base of a huge rock that went down into the sea. I and others were positioned somewhere higher on the rock looking down at their landing. I ran to get rifles and ammunition to shoot at them. To do so, I had to crawl through the entrance of a narrow sandy cave about one foot high. There was something like a dozen orange candles on the base of this sandy entrance which led down deeper into the cave where it opened up. The candles were all at different stages of dying out. The majority were just wax mounds where once there had stood a candle. At this point in the dream, I had the revelation that this was only a dream, and yet the scene was so vivid and real I could practically smell the wax and the cool sand. Down beyond the entrance were two of my compatriotsa”one male, one female. The entrance was so narrow I thought that the roof could collapse on me at any minute and I would die here. I realized that it did not matter if I died here because if I didn't get through, I would die anyway when the enemy overran the place. I realized that I must not give up and that there was something greater at stake here. I made my way through the narrow entrance and down into the cave where the male person (who reminded me of actor Mel Gibson) took me through a different exit to a powerful dune buggy-type vehicle, and we went to get the arms we were after.

In the next scene we had the arms (rifles and ammunition) and were on our way back, and I was conscious that the enemy were infiltrating.

Mel showed me on a plan how he had worked out to get us back to the hotspot. He, as the driver, was going to jump the car onto the roof of a fortress-type structure and again jump it onto the top of a wall that ran toward where we needed to go. It looked pretty spectacular and exciting, but I was confident in his ability to get us to the hotspot. I was also aware that we would be shot at on the way.

My natural man was saying, ”What a ridiculous dream!” Yet, here is its interpretation.

The invasion speaks of a subtle, evil plan of the enemy (see Gen. 3:1; Acts 13:10). I have nothing against foreigners; the Spirit of G.o.d is just using them as a parallel from the past to show a deeper spiritual truth today. Their invasion speaks about the infiltration and subtle influence of technology leading the Church away and captive (addicted) to entertainment. The cave speaks about the Church hiding. This is the female deep in the cave. The narrow sandy entrance says two things. First, that the way is going to be under pressure (see Matt. 7:13-14). Second, it says that we, the Church, are toying with the Word of G.o.d. The orange candles are a warning about the state of the Church and its fading apostolic mandate (see Matt. 28:19; Luke 11:33; Acts 1:8). For the most part, the Western Church is being drawn into a flesh-comforting, entertainment-rich lifestyle. As a consequence, we have become spectators expecting people to come to us instead of going out and carrying the message we have been given.

The fear of death I experienced on crawling through this narrow opening represents the fear of ridicule I feel I will experience for sharing this revelation. The realization that something greater is at stake says that I will proceed with this because I realize if I don't, the Church is in jeopardy. The awareness that what I was experiencing was a dream, and yet it appeared so real, says that even though it was just a dream, it is a certain spiritual reality.

Mel means, ”chief” (see Eph. 2:20; 1 Pet. 5:4), and therefore, Mel Gibson in this dream represents Jesus Christ, who has been taken into hiding by the Church (the female). The dune buggy symbolizes a powerful ministry driven by Jesus Christ who will carry this message onto a preaching platform (see Matt. 10:27) and over the obstacles and barriers (walls) that would otherwise prevent it. The rifles are willing hearts (launching pads) for words, and the munitions are those words. Being shot at speaks of ”friendly-fire” from people within the Church for carrying this message.