YouTube

How did God reveal Himself to people in the Bible ? This session focuses on God's use of "video" - that is, dreams and visions.

Essential questions:

"God, in holding communication with men, works in accordance with the laws of man's mind. No sharp line of demarcation is discernable between dreams and visions. The one shades into the other."

• Was the recipient a believer or not?

• Did the recipient understand it?

• Was an interpretation provided?

Dreams:

"Dreams were employed by God for the purposes of his kingdom. They are (a) Intended to affect the spiritual life of individuals, and (b) Directive and prophetic dreams, used when revelation was incomplete. They seem to have carried with them credentials of their divine origin."

• Seven cows and seven grains: Pharaoh's dreams (Genesis 41: 1-40)

• Smashing the statue: Nebuchadnezzar's dream (Daniel 2) which, in turn, is revealed by a vision (2:19). Note that Daniel interprets the dream without being told what it was!

• You are to name him Jesus: Joseph's dream (Matthew 1:20)

• Don't go that way: The Magi's dream (Matthew 2:12)

• The troubling dream: Little is known about Pilate's wife's dream (Matthew 27:19)

Visions:

"The visions of the prophets ... were granted to holy men only. These visions were clearly distinguished (by those who saw them) from ordinary visions and were recognized as proceeding from God."

• Wheels within wheels: Ezekiel's vision (Ezekiel 1)

• A sheet full of animals: Peter's vision (Acts 10:9)

Quotations are from Davis Dictionary of the Bible by John D. Davis, Baker Book House, 1973