THE CENTRALITY OF THE WORD OF GOD Tomorrow:
"I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth: for THOU HAST MAGNIFIED THY WORD ABOVE ALL THY NAME." (Psa 138:2) ". . . for You have exalted above all else Your name and Your word and You have magnified Your word above all Your name!" (Amplified Bible)
Devotion 25 of 30
Divine Fellowship Not Required
Whatever may be said of dreams, Divine fellowship was not required for this sort of communication. Not only did Jacob and Joseph have valid dreams, Pharaoh and Nebuchadnezzar did also. Dreams did not necessarily result from a walk with God; they were not an integral part of oneness with Him. It ought to be obvious that such an experience does not constitute a superior manifestation of truth.
AN INTRUSION OF THOUGHT
Dreams are not the product of conscious contemplation or meditation. They are a Divine intrusion into man's thought processes. His will is not involved, his desire is exempted, and his preference is not the point. Those who dreamed dreams were not seeking to do so; their thoughts had not been prepared for the dreams. They were placed into their minds at times when they were inactive.
INTERPRETATION GENERALLY REQUIRED
The value was not in the dreams themselves, but in the interpretation of them. If words were not spoken during the dream, as in the cases of Solomon and Joseph (Mary's husband), a man of God had to interpret what was dreamed. Joseph and Daniel were known for their ability to interpret dreams. The dreams were profitless until these men opened up what they meant. The dreams, then, were not an end of themselves. It was the objective or message of them that was important.
DEALT WITH TEMPORARY SITUATIONS
Eternal principles were not revealed in dreams. Almost always, they applied to life upon the earth. Redemption was not revealed by a dream. The forgiveness of sins, the inheritance in heaven, the intercession of Christ, the destruction of Satan, and the nailing of the Law of commandments contained in ordinances to the cross of Christ – none of these were the subject of dreams. The loftier the message, the less dreams occurred! Temporal deliverances, insight into dangerous situations, moral involvements to be avoided, the appropriating of resources required for living in this world – those were the emphases of dreams!
GOD'S ANALYSIS OF DREAMS
Dreams tend to detract, and appeal to the curiosity in man rather than to faith. This is not to say that they have not occurred, or that they have not had value. The point is that they have a lesser value, and that they promote lesser illumination. They are an inferior mode of Divine communication. We have God's assessment on this: ". . . which think to cause my people to forget My name by their dreams which they tell. . . . The prophet that hath a dream, let him tell a dream; and he that hath My word, let him speak My word faithfully. WHAT IS THE CHAFF TO THE WHEAT? saith the Lord" (Jer. 23:25-28). It is true that false prophets were being denounced here. However, they had employed an inferior means, a mysterious means, to promote their lies – "dreams." God categorically states that such dreams are "chaff" in comparison to His word!
In His commendation of Moses, God Himself compared the means through which He communicated with men. He declared that, while He did speak to some legitimate prophets by dreams, He would not speak to Moses in such a manner. "And he said, Hear now My words: If there be a prophet among you, I the LORD will make Myself known unto him in a vision, and will speak unto him in a dream. My servant Moses is not so, who is faithful in all mine house. With him will I speak mouth to mouth, even apparently, and not in dark speeches; and the similitude of the LORD shall he behold: wherefore then were ye not afraid to speak against My servant Moses? (Num 12:6-8).
DREAMS CAN BE DECEIVING
I am careful to point out that there have been legitimate dreams from God. My objective here is not to deprecate this means of communication, but to identify its relative inferiority. I am not dealing with the legitimacy of dreams, but with their comparative nature. In a commentary on the danger of dreams as the only source of understanding, Isaiah wrote; "It shall be even as when an hungry man dreams, and behold he eats; but he awakes, and his soul is empty; or as when a thirsty man dreams, and behold he drinks; but he awakes, and behold he is faint and his soul has appetite . . ." (Isa. 29:7-8).
Dreams are incapable of satisfying real need. Experience can be emulated, but not produced, by dreams. When truth was communicated through a dream, as in the case of Daniel, it was the interpretation of the dream that ministered spiritual nourishment, not the dream itself. By way of comparison, God's Word itself has been magnified (Psa 138:2). His word itself is a source of illumination (Psa 119:105).
PRAYER POINT: Father, in the name of Jesus, I thank You for the superior quality of Your word, and its marvelous and lasting benefits.