While many prophecies remain mysterious and unveiled until future times, including the prophetic vision of Revelation, what we can learn from scripture is that God is speaking. He speaks through seers and prophets, and he speaks to us through visions and dreams.
Photo by Jr Korpa
Formerly in Israel, when a man went to inquire of God, he used to say, “Come, and let us go to the seer”; for he who is called a prophet now was formerly called a seer.
1 Samuel 9:9
Now the acts of King David, from first to last, are written in the chronicles of Samuel the seer, in the chronicles of Nathan the prophet and in the chronicles of Gad the seer,
1 Chronicles 29:29
Visions
In the Spirit there is one body and many parts. So also in the Spirit there is one body with many spiritual gifts. The gift of visions is one way that God speaks to men, and if you’ve ever had a very vivid dream full of imagery and colors that you just can’t seem to forget, then you may have the gift of prophecy.
We see numerous examples in scripture of times wherein God speaks through visions and dreams (Numbers 12:6). These stories show a God who is eager to communicate with his people, Israel, through seers (say: see-ers) and prophets.
The definition of a seer is a person who prophesies future events; a person endowed with profound moral and spiritual insight or knowledge; or a wise person or sage who possesses intuitive powers. The Bible establishes a very real spiritual basis for seers: They are especially important in the Old Testament and hold advisory positions to kings.
Similarly, in a Biblical context, the definition of a prophet is a person who predicts or foretells what is to come; a person who speaks to God; or a person chosen to speak for God and to guide the people of Israel.
The Office of the Prophet is a higher post than a seer, but both predict future events and possess insight and knowledge that is revealed by God in visions or dreams or by words of Knowledge from God himself.
We know prophets are important, because the Major Prophets including Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Lamentations and Daniel are their own books of the Bible, and each book prophesies the coming of Christ or future events including the end of days.
While many prophecies remain mysterious and unveiled until future times, including the prophetic vision of Revelation, what we can learn from scripture is that God is speaking. He speaks through seers and prophets, and he speaks to us through visions and dreams.
Here are just a few examples of visions in the Bible that show we can hear about future events or even receive direction from God through dreams and visions.
Joseph — The dreams and dream interpretations of a seer
Genesis chapters 37, 39-46
Joseph is the youngest of the 12 sons of Jacob (Israel) and Jacob’s favorite son. Joseph’s father gives him a brightly colored coat that makes his brothers jealous of him. Joseph has two visions that further enrage his brothers.
+ Joseph dreams that he and his brothers were binding sheaves together in a field, and Joseph’s sheaf rose and stood upright while the others bowed to his sheaf
+ Joseph dreams that the sun, moon and eleven stars were bowing down to him (symbolic of Joseph’s family)
Joseph’s dreams anger his brothers and his father, Jacob. One day, Joseph’s brothers conspire to kill him, but instead they throw him into a well without water, and he is sold to the Midianites who then sell him to Potiphar, the captain of the guard of Pharaoh.
Years later, at age 30, after becoming estranged from his family and father who had forsaken him as dead, Joseph is called before Pharaoh to interpret two visions.
+ Seven healthy cows come up from the Nile followed by seven lean and ugly cows that eat the seven healthy cows
+ Seven healthy ears of corn grow on one stalk followed by seven withered, blighted and thin ears of corn, and the thin ears swallow up the seven good ears
Joseph interprets the dreams as one in the same and reveals the dreams’ meaning that there will be seven years of abundance and seven years of famine in Egypt. In response to the interpretation, Joseph is appointed to the highest post under Pharaoh and charged with conserving enough food in the years of abundance to support all of the land during the seven years of famine.
When the seven years of famine strike, Jacob sends his sons (except Benjamin) to Egypt to buy grain, and Joseph recognizes them. The family is ultimately reunited and comes to live with Joseph in Egypt.
What we can learn from this story is that dreams can be deeply prophetic, and we can know that they are prophetic by observing their imagery and whether they come true in the future. In the case of Joseph, his brothers did bow down to him, and the famine did happen. Both sets of dreams gave insight to prepare for the future. The first dreams to encourage Joseph God had a plan for his life and Pharaoh’s dreams to assure Egypt’s safety during seven years of famine.
Nathan — A prophetic admonishment to King David
2 Samuel chapter 12
Nathan, a prophet and advisor to king David, is sent by God to convict king David of the sin he committed when he took Uriah’s wife as his own and sent Uriah to his death in battle. Nathan also delivers prophetic words about the curse of the sword that will be on David’s house because of his sin.
Nathan tells a story where a man with great riches and many sheep of his own lives in the same town as a poor man. The poor man has one sheep who is so dear to him that it sleeps with him and dines with him at the dinner table. A traveler comes to visit the rich man, and instead of killing a sheep from his own flock, the rich man demands that the sheep who is so precious to the poor man shall be killed for his guest. The story is cruel, and David pronounces that the rich man should pay four times for the sin he committed. Then, Nathan delivers God’s message that king David is that man who killed the pet sheep, when he took Uriah’s wife and killed Uriah, and that David’s firstborn son with Bathsheba will die.
God redeems David through his son Solomon born later to him by Bathsheba, but in the future, king David’s sons steal his kingship and his wives and David flees his own city as he fears for his life — all as prophesied before by Nathan who was sent to deliver God’s message.
Daniel — Prophetic vision interpretation
Daniel chapter 2
God gives Daniel the gift of interpreting dreams. King Nebuchadnezzar is troubled by the dreams he is having and summons all the magicians, enchanters, sorcerers and Chaldeans to interpret a dream that is particularly troubling: When no one is able to interpret it, the king sentences all of the wise men in his kingdom to death, but Daniel hears about the dream and asks to give its interpretation in faith that God will give wisdom and insight. He prays deeply over the dream’s interpretation before it is given, and the mystery of the dream is revealed to Daniel in a vision of the night.
When Daniel stands before king Nebuchadnezzar to interpret the dream, he recounts the exact imagery that was given to the king in his dream and king Nebuchadnezzar is astounded. Here is the king’s response:
“Truly, your God is God of gods and Lord of kings, and a revealer of mysteries, for you have been able to reveal this mystery.” Then the king gave Daniel high honors and many great gifts, and made him ruler over the province of Babylon and chief prefect over all the wise men of Babylon.
What we can learn from this story is that God can do wonderful and awesome things — revealing wisdom, insight, and knowledge that can only come directly from him. We see in Daniel a model for prayerful prophetic revelation.
We hope that reviewing these stories will give you confidence that God speaks to his people through visions and dreams and empower you to go deeper into your own testing of the dreams and visions God has given to you. We encourage you to keep a dream journal or write visions or dream pictures on note cards so you can return to them later to see if these visions or pictures have been fulfilled. Over time you may find that certain themes emerge in your visions, and God will use them to reveal future events to you or to give you insight that you ask for. Keep in mind that, just as with Joseph, dreams and visions can sometimes take years to be fulfilled but they often have deep meaning.
As there is so much richness in each of the above stories, we encourage you to read the referenced chapters for the full context. Also, stay tuned for our next blog where we will delve deeper into the gift of prophecy with guest blogger, Pam Bierwagen.