Dreams
Question:
How did God communicate in the past?
Question:
Did God communicate by more than just in dreams?
Question:
How did God communicate to Moses?
Wikipedia defines
“dream(s)” as
“A dream is the experience of a sequence of images, sounds, ideas,
emotions, or other sensations
during sleep, especially REM sleep.
The events of dreams are often impossible, or unlikely to occur, in
physical reality: they are also
outside the control of the dreamer. The exception to this is known as lucid dreaming, in which
dreamers realize that they are dreaming, and are sometimes capable of changing
their dream
environment and controlling various aspects of
the dream. The dream environment is often much
more realistic in a lucid dream, and the senses heightened . . .
Discovery of REM
EEG showing
brainwaves during REM sleep
“In 1953 Eugene Aserinsky
discovered REM sleep while
working in the lab of his PhD advisor.
Aserinsky noticed that the sleepers' eyes fluttered
beneath their closed eyelids, later using a
polygraph machine to record their brain waves
during these periods. In one session he awakened
a subject who was crying out during REM and confirmed his suspicion that
dreaming was
occurring . . . .”
Let’s look at what the Bible states about
dreams . . . .
Genesis 28:10-16 Jacob's
Dream at Bethel
10 Jacob left
11 When he reached a certain place, he stopped for the
night because the sun had set.
Taking one of the stones there, he
put it under his head and lay down to sleep.
12 He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on
the earth, with its top reaching to
heaven, and the angels of God were
ascending and descending on it.
13 There above it [e] stood the
LORD, and he said: "I am the LORD, the God of your father
Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will
give you and your descendants the land on which
you are lying.
14 Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth,
and you will spread out to the west and to
the east, to the north and to the south. All
peoples on earth will be blessed through you and
your offspring.
15 I am with you and will watch over you wherever you
go, and I will bring you back to this land.
I will not leave you until I have
done what I have promised you."
16 When Jacob awoke
from his sleep, he thought, "Surely the LORD is in this place, and I was
not aware of it."
Genesis 37 through 41 (Genesis 41:15 & 16) Joseph and the dream (NIV):
15 Pharaoh said to Joseph, "I had a dream, and no one
can interpret it. But I have heard it said of
you that when you hear a dream you
can interpret it."
16 "I cannot do it," Joseph replied to
Pharaoh, "but God will give Pharaoh the answer he desires."
Numbers 12: 1-11 Miriam and Aaron Oppose Moses (NIV):
1
Miriam and Aaron began to talk against Moses because of his Cushite
wife, for he
had married a Cushite.
2 "Has the LORD
spoken only through Moses?" they asked. "Hasn't he also spoken
through us?" And the LORD heard this.
3 (Now Moses was a very
humble man, more humble than anyone else on the face
of the earth.)
4 At once the LORD said to Moses, Aaron and Miriam,
"Come out to the Tent of Meeting, all
three of you." So the three of them came out.
5 Then the LORD came down in a pillar of cloud; he stood
at the entrance to the Tent and
summoned Aaron and Miriam. When
both of them stepped forward,
6 he said, "Listen to my words:
"When a prophet of the LORD is among
you, I reveal myself to him in visions,
I speak to him in dreams.
7 But this is not true of my servant Moses; he is faithful in
all my house.
8 With him I speak face to face, clearly and not in
riddles;
he sees the form of the LORD. Why then
were you not afraid
to speak against my servant Moses?"
9 The anger of the LORD burned against them, and he left
them.
10 When the cloud lifted from above the Tent, there
stood Miriam—leprous, like snow. Aaron
turned toward her and saw that she
had leprosy;
11 and he said to Moses, "Please, my lord, do not
hold against us the sin we have so foolishly
committed.
Joel 2:28 The Day of the
LORD (NIV):
28
"And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
your old men will dream dreams, your
young men will see visions.
There are many other passages in Scripture that have
stories
about “dream(s)” and how God has communicated in the past.
Question: How did God
communicate in the past?
Question: Did God
communicate by more than just in dreams?
Question: How did God
communicate to Moses?
Question: How did God
communicate to Moses with a bush?
References:
The following websites were
referenced on August 10, 2007:
http://dictionary.reference.com
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page
Other websites that might be worth
investigating:
http://www.thruthebible.org/atf/cf/%7BFEA5B386-48F1-4797-9023-5F77EED319B7%7D/Jude.pdf
http://www.discipleshiplibrary.com/pdfs/32001JON.pdf
http://www.gotquestions.org/Christian-dream-interpretation.html